(HC) Potts v. Gastelo ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KEVIN POTTS, Case No. 1:20-cv-01236-JLT-HBK (HC) 12 Petitioner, ORDER SEALING DOCUMENTS AS SET FORTH IN GOVERNMENT’S NOTICE 13 v. (Doc. No. 73) 14 DANNY SAMUEL, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Before the Court is Respondent’s Notice of its Request to Seal the 18-page reporter’s 18 transcript of a confidential hearing held on January 27, 2022. (Doc. No. 73). Petitioner Kevin 19 Potts, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has pending a First Amended Petition for writ of habeas 20 corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. No. 19). 21 Pursuant to Local Rule 141(b), Respondent requests to file under seal the 18-page 22 reporter’s transcript of a confidential hearing held on January 27, 2022. Respondent notes the 23 trial court informed Petitioner that the proceedings would be confidential and requests the Court 24 maintain the seal “because of concerns attendant with maintaining the confidentiality of 25 Petitioner’s trial-level representation.” (Doc. No. 73). Respondent advises the reporter’s 26 transcript will be served on Petitioner, and that Respondent does not object to filing the 27 documents unsealed if Petitioner prefers. (Id. at 2). 28 The Court finds that, for the reasons stated in Respondent’s Notice and its Request, 1 | sealing the 18-page reporter’s transcript serves a compelling interest. See Kamakana v. City and 2 | County of Honolulu, 447 F. 3d 1172, 1179-1180 (9th Cir. 2006); Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. 3 | Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (th Cir. 2003). 4 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 5 The Court GRANTS Respondent’s Request incorporated in its Notice (Doc. No. 73) and 6 | directs Respondent to provide an electronic copy of the document to be sealed to the Clerk of 7 | Court, at which time the Clerk of Court will file the documents under seal. See Local Rule 8 | 141(e)(2)@). 9 10 Dated: _ December 6, 2022 Gow Zh fareA Zack 11 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28