United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 2021

Spiers v. City and County of San Francisco

Spiers v. City and County of San Francisco
United States District Court for the Northern District of California · Decided February 5, 2021
Spiers v. City and County of San Francisco

Trial Court Opinion

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA DACARI SPIERS, Case No. 20-cv-01357-JSC Plaintiff, Case No. 20-cv-04276-JSC v. 9 ORDER RE: CHALLENGE TO 10 CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATION FRANCISCO, Re: Dkt. Nos. 38 Defendant.

13 BREONNA RICHARD, 14 Plaintiff, 15 v. 16 CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Defendant.

Plaintiffs’ motion to remove the confidentiality designation from the police body-worn camera (BWC) video is granted because Defendant has failed to demonstrate a particularized harm that would support designating the video as confidential. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210 (9th Cir. 2002). Defendant’s arguments to the contrary are particularly unpersuasive in light of the San Francisco Police Department’s release of a portion of the BWC video. See Fed. R. Civ. P 26(c); Harmon v. City of Santa Clara, 323 F.R.D. 617, 625 (N.D. Cal. 2018) (finding that a party’s privacy concerns become moot when a confidential video is released on the internet). Moreover, even if Defendant had demonstrated a particularized harm, the Glenmede factors do not weigh in its favor for the reasons articulated by Judge Cousins in 2020) (finding that police officers that are in the public eye everyday have a lowered expectation || of privacy). See Glenmede Trust Co. v. Thompson, 56 F.3d 476, 483 (3d Cir. 1995).

3 Plaintiffs’ motion to sanction opposing counsel is denied for the reason stated at oral || argument—the request was raised in a reply brief.

5 This Order disposes of Docket No. 38.

6 IT IS SO ORDERED.

7 || Dated: February 5, 2020 8 ’ ne ACQUELINE SCOTT COR 10 United States Magistrate Judge

= 17 Z 18

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.