Jose Alvarado v. City of San Bernardino
Jose Alvarado v. City of San Bernardino
Trial Court Opinion
1 STEVEN J. ROTHANS-State Bar No. 106579 SCOTT CARPENTER-State Bar No. 253339 2 CARPENTER, ROTHANS & DUMONT LLP 500 South Grand Avenue, 19th Floor 3 San Bernardino, CA 90071 (213) 228-0400 / (213) 228-0401 (Fax) 4 [email protected] / [email protected]
5 Attorneys for Defendant, CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO, a public entity 6
7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9
10 JOSE ALVARADO, JIMENA ) Case No.: 5:24-cv-00088-JGB-SHK 11 ALVARADO, ERIKA ALVARADO, ) and MARCUS ALVARADO, in each ) STIPULATION RE: PROTECTIVE 12 case individually and as successor in ) ORDER interest to Delfino Avila, deceased, ) 13 ) Plaintiffs, ) 14 ) [DISCOVERY DOCUMENT; vs. ) 15 ) REFERRED TO MAGISTRATE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO and ) JUDGE] 16 DOES 1-10, inclusive. ) ) 17 Defendants. ) ) 18 ) ) 19 ) ) 20
21 Plaintiffs, JOSE ALVARADO, JIMENA ALVARADO, ERIKA 22 ALVARADO, and MARCUS ALVARADO, on the one hand, and Defendant 23 CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO, on the other, by and through their respective 24 counsel, hereby stipulate and agree as follows: 25 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 26 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 27 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 28 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 1 be warranted. 2 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter 3 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order 4 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 5 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 6 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 7 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 8 Stipulated Protective Order does not automatically entitle them to file confidential 9 information under seal and that Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 10 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 11 permission from the Court to file material under seal. The parties agree that this 12 protective order does not waive the parties’ rights to object to discovery demands 13 or requests for documents and/or information. 14 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 15 This litigation relates to the November 3, 2022 shooting death of Delfino 16 Avila by a City of San Bernardino Police Department police officer. The relevant 17 evidence in this case includes, but is not limited to, body-worn camera footage, 18 police reports, witness statements, and information about individuals who are not 19 parties to this litigation. The evidence in this action may also involve confidential 20 law enforcement investigative files and records. The evidence in this action also 21 may involve private medical and/or psychological records related to plaintiffs and 22 decedent. 23 The Parties submit that good cause exists to enter the proposed protective 24 order to balance the parties’ concerns that the documents consist of confidential 25 and private information concerning the parties to this litigation, which is protected 26 by, among other things, the right to privacy, the official information privilege, law 27 enforcement privilege, and as protected by the California and United States 28 Constitution. 1 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 2 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 3 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 4 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 5 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 6 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated as 7 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 8 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 9 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 10 2. DEFINITIONS 11 2.1 Action: Jose Alvarado, et al. v. City of San Bernardino, et al. 5:24-cv- 12 00088-JGB-SHK. 13 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the 14 designation of information or items under this Order. 15 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless 16 of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that a Designating 17 Party believes is entitled to confidential treatment under Federal Rule of Civil 18 Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Purposes and Good Cause 19 Statements. This also includes (1) any information copied or extracted from the 20 Confidential information; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, abstracts or 21 compilations of Confidential information; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 22 presentations that might reveal Confidential information. 23 2.4 Counsel: Counsel of record and House Counsel for the parties to this 24 civil litigation and their support staff. 25 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information 26 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 28 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, 1 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 2 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are 3 produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 4 2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 5 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 6 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 2.8 Final Disposition: When this Action has been fully and completely 7 terminated by way of settlement, dismissal, trial and/or appeal. 8 2.9 House Counsel: Attorneys other than Counsel (as defined in 9 paragraph 2.4) and who are employees of a party to this Action. 10 2.10 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association 11 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 12 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a 13 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action 14 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law 15 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 16 2.12 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 17 boards, departments, divisions, employees, consultants, retained experts, and 18 Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 19 2.13 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 20 Discovery Material in this Action. 21 2.14 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation 22 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 23 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 24 and their employees and subcontractors. 25 2.15 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 26 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 27 2.16 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 28 Material from a Producing Party. 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, abstracts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any deposition testimony, 6 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. However, if the receiving party has the Protected Material 7 from a source other than the Producing Party, that independently obtained 8 information is not subject to this Order unless it was marked confidential and 9 subject to a Protective Order itself. 10 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 11 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 12 4. DURATION 13 Once a trial commences in this Action, information that was designated as 14 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order and that is 15 introduced or admitted as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be 16 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 17 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 18 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 19 Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 20 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 21 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 22 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial 23 as to the CONFIDENTIAL information and materials introduced or admitted as an 24 exhibit at trial. 25 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 27 Protection. 28 1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 2 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material 3 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 4 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or 5 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 6 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 7 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 8 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 9 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 10 impose unnecessary delay, expenses and/or burdens on other parties) may expose 11 the Designating Party to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 16 provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as 17 otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for 18 protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 19 disclosed or produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 22 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 23 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” or words of a similar effect, and that includes the case name 25 and case number (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 26 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 27 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 28 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). The marking of a 1 document as CONFIDENTIAL may not obscure or obliterate any part of the 2 document so marked. 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 4 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 5 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 6 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 7 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 8 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 9 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 10 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 11 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 12 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 13 appropriate markings in the margins without obscuring the document so marked.) 14 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 15 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 16 deposition all protected testimony. 17 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 18 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 19 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 21 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 22 protected portion(s). 23 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 24 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing 25 alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for 26 such material. Upon timely correction of an inadvertent failure to designate, the 27 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 28 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 3 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 4 Scheduling Order. 5 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 6 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 7 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 8 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 9 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 10 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 11 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 12 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 13 challenge. 14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that 16 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with 17 this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. 18 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and 19 under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been 20 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below 21 (FINAL DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 24 authorized under this Order. 25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 26 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 27 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 28 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 2 employees of said Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 3 disclose the information for this Action, the parties; 4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 5 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 8 (d) the court and its personnel. 9 (e) court reporters and their staff; 10 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 11 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 12 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 13 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 14 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 15 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 16 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 17 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit “A” hereto; and 18 (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 19 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit “A”), unless 20 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 21 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 22 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed 23 to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 24 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 25 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 26 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 27 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 28 1 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 2 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 3 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 4 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 5 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 6 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 7 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy 8 of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 9 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 10 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 11 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order in the action in 12 which the subpoena or order was issued, the Party served with the subpoena or 13 court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 15 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. 16 However, if the Designating Party has not obtained from a court a delay in the 17 production date, or an order to quash the subpoena, then the Party that received the 18 subpoena may comply so as to avoid failure to meet subpoena deadlines. The 19 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 20 court of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be 21 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey 22 a lawful directive from another court. 23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 26 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 28 1 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 2 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 4 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 5 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 6 confidential information, then the Party shall: (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 7 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 8 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and 11 a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 13 Non-Party, if requested. 14 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 15 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 16 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 17 request. 18 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 19 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 20 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 21 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 22 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 25 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 26 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 27 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 28 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 1 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 2 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
4 A. 511. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 6 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 8 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 9 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 10 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 11 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 12 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 13 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 14 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 15 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 16 12. MISCELLANEOUS 17 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 18 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 19 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 20 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 21 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 22 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 23 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 24 Order. 25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 26 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 27 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 28 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 1 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 2 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 3 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 4 After the FINAL DISPOSITION of this Action, as defined in paragraph 2.8, 5 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party 6 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 7 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 8 Material. The Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing 9 Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day 10 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 11 Material that was returned and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained 12 any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 13 capturing any of the Protected Material. 14 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival 15 copy of all pleadings, discovery, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 16 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 17 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if 18 such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 19 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 20 Section 4 (DURATION). 21 14. VIOLATION 22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 23 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 |} IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 3 || DATED: September 4, 2024 LAW OFFICES OF DALE K. GALIPO 5 Bv: 6 DALE K. GALIPO RENEE V. MASONGSONG 7 Attornevs for Plaintiffs 9 |} DATED: September 4, 2024 CARPENTER, ROTHANS & DUMONT LLP 10 Bv: 12 STEVEN J. ROTHANS SCOTT J. CARPENTER 13 Attorneys for Defendant, CITY OF SAN 14 BERNARDINO. a public entitv
15 |{/// 16 /// 17 18 /// 19 20 21 22 || IT IS SO ORDERED. 23 24 ||Dated: September 5, 2024 By: Mpa 25 HONORABLE SHASHI H. KEWALRAMANI UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27 28
1 EXHIBIT A 2 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 4 5 I, ______________________________________[print or type full name], of _________________________________ [print or type full address], declare 6 under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 7 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 8 the Central District of California on _____________ in the case of Jose Alvarado, 9 et al. v. City of San Bernardino, et al. 5:24-cv-00088-JGB-SHK. I agree to comply 10 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I 11 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 12 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 13 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 14 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 15 provisions of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 17 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 18 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 19 after termination of this action. 20 Date: ______________________________________ 21 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 22 Printed name: _______________________________ 23 Signature: ________________________________ 24 25 26 27 28
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