Daniel v. Neuschmid ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 DOMINIC TYRELL DANIEL, Case No. 19-cv-03319-HSG 8 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO FILE PROBATION OFFICER’S 9 v. REPORT UNDER SEAL 10 ROBERT NEUSCHMID, Re: Dkt. No. 13 11 Respondent. 12 13 Petitioner, a state prisoner, has filed this habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. 14 Dkt. No. 1. On August 27, 2019, the Court ordered respondent to show cause why a writ of 15 habeas corpus should not be granted based on petitioner’s cognizable claims. Dkt. No. 9. 16 Respondent has filed an answer to the order to show cause and has requested to file under seal the 17 Alameda County Probation Officer’s Report, which is located at pages 365-398 of the state court 18 clerk’s transcript on appeal and is lodged as Exhibit 14 to the Answer. Dkt. No. 13. Respondent 19 argues that Cal. R. Ct. 8.45-8.47 require that personal information in a probation report be kept 20 confidential, citing People v. Connor, 115 Cal.App.4th 669 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004). Connor holds 21 that Cal. Penal Code § 1203.05 renders probation reports, or at least any detailed personal 22 information contained in them, conditionally confidential sixty days after judgment is pronounced 23 or probation granted, whichever is earlier. Connor, 115 Cal. App. 4th at 685. 24 There is a strong presumption favoring the public’s right of access to court records which 25 should be overridden only for a compelling reason. Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 1433- 26 34 (9th Cir. 1995). “In general, compelling reasons sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in 27 disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such court files might have become a 1 scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of 2 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006) (quotation omitted). 3 Here, respondent seeks to file under seal the Alameda County Probation Officer’s Report 4 || because this document contains personal information. Probation reports are “designed to contain 5 highly personal information about the defendant, including his or her arrest record; family 6 || background; and employment, military, medical, and psychological histories.” Connor, 115 Cal. 7 || App. 4th at 681. This type of personal information “could become a vehicle for improper 8 || purposes” and justifies sealing the exhibits. Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. Thus, the Court finds a 9 compelling need for this document to remain confidential. The Court GRANTS respondent’s 10 || motion to file Exhibit 14 to the answer to the order to show cause under seal. Exhibit 14 shall 11 remain under seal until the conclusion of this case and any appellate proceedings. If counsel for 12 || respondent does not request that these documents be returned following the conclusion of this case 5 13 and any appellate proceedings, these documents will be destroyed in conformance with the normal 14 || records destruction policy of the United States Courts. 3 15 This order terminates Dkt. No. 13. a 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 || Dated: 1/16/2020 HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR. 19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28