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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 Danielle Fierro, MF by and through her CASE NO: 2:24-cv-03916-HDV-JPRx 11 guardian ad litem Danielle Fierro Honorable Hernan D. Vera 12 Plaintiff, 13 vs. Honorable Jean P. Rosenbluth

14 Los Angeles Police Department; Lt. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 Mike Rippe #33073; Det. Acosta #38609; Det. Castaneda #35339; and 16 DOES 1-10, 17 Defendants.

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19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 5 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 6 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 7 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer 8 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it 9 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items 10 that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The 11 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated 12 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil 13 Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that 14 will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 15 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 16 This action involves the City of Los Angeles (“CITY) and individual sworn police 17 officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) on one side; and on the other, 18 Plaintiffs who claim damages from the City and LAPD Officers. 19 As such, Plaintiff may seek materials and information that the City maintains as 20 confidential, such as personnel files of the police officers involved in the incident, video 21 recordings (including Body-Worn Video recordings and Digital In-Car Video 22 recordings), audio recordings, and other administrative materials and information 23 currently in the possession of the City and which the City believes needs special 24 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 25 this litigation. Plaintiff may also seek official information contained in the personnel 26 files of the Police Officers involved in the subject incident, which the City maintains as 27 strictly confidential and which the City believes needs special protection from public 1 The City asserts that the confidentiality of materials and information sought by 2 Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law as evidenced by, inter alia, 3 California Penal Code section 832.7, California Evidence Code section 1043 et. seq. and 4 Kerr v. United States District Ct. for N.D. Cal.,

(9th Cir. 1975), aff’d, 5

(1976); Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana,

(9th Cir. 1990); 6 Miller v. Pancucci,

(C.D. Cal. 1992). The City has not and does not 7 publicly release the materials and information referenced above except under a protective 8 order or pursuant to a court order, if at all. These materials and information are of the 9 type that has been used to initiate disciplinary action against LAPD officers and has been 10 used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings, where officers’ conduct was considered to 11 be contrary to LAPD policy. 12 The City contends that absent a protective order delineating the responsibilities of 13 nondisclosure on the part of the parties hereto, there is a specific risk of unnecessary and 14 undue disclosure by one or more of the many attorneys, secretaries, law clerks, paralegals, 15 and expert witnesses involved in the case, as well as the corollary risk of embarrassment, 16 harassment and professional and legal harm on the part of the LAPD officers referenced in 17 the materials and information. 18 Defendants also seek discovery of various information relating to Plaintiff’s 19 damages claims, including employment information, housing information, financial 20 information, and confidential medical records that may be personal, private, and 21 potentially embarrassing if unnecessarily disseminated; thus, Plaintiff contends such 22 information should not be disseminated beyond this litigation. 23 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 24 resolution of disputes over the confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 25 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties 26 are permitted reasonably necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the 27 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of litigation, and serve the ends of 1 confidential for tactical reasons and nothing will be designated without a good faith 2 belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good 3 cause why it should not be part of the public record in this case. 4 5 2. DEFINITIONS 6 2.1 Action: Fierro v. City of Los Angeles et. al., Case No. 24-cv-03916-HDV- 7 JPRx 8 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 9 information or items under this Order. 10 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how 11 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 12 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 13 Statement. 14 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 15 support staff). 16 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 17 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 19 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 20 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated 21 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 22 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 24 expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 25 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 26 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 27 counsel. 1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 4 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 5 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has 6 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 9 support staffs). 10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 11 Discovery Material in this Action. 12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 13 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 15 their employees and subcontractors. 16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 17 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 19 from a Producing Party. 20 3. SCOPE 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 22 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 23 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 24 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 25 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 27 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 1 4. DURATION 2 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 3 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in 4 writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be the 5 later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; 6 and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, 7 rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing 8 any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 5.1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 11 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 12 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 13 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 14 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or 15 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 16 the ambit of this Order. 17 Indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 18 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 19 unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 20 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 23 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 24 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery 25 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated 26 before the material is disclosed or produced. 27 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 1 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or electronic 2 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 3 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 4 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 5 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 6 qualifies for protection, then to the extent practicable the Producing Party also must 7 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 8 margins). 9 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 10 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 11 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 12 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be 13 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it 14 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 15 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 16 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to 17 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material 18 on a page qualifies for protection, then to the extent practicable the Producing Party also 19 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in 20 the margins). 21 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 22 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 23 protected testimony. 24 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 25 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 26 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 1 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 2 portion(s). 3 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information 4 or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure 5 protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, 6 the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in 7 accordance with the provisions of this Order. 8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 6.1 Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at 10 any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 11 6.2 The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute resolution process (and, if 12 necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 13 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on the 14 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 15 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 16 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 17 the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the material in question 18 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation 19 until the Court rules on the challenge. 20 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 21 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced 22 by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, 23 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed 24 only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When 25 the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of 26 section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 27 1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 2 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 3 authorized under this Order. 4 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 5 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 7 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 8 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 9 disclose the information for this Action; 10 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 11 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 12 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 13 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 14 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 15 (d) the Court and its personnel; 16 (e) court reporters and their staff; 17 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to 18 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 21 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 22 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action 23 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests 24 that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be 25 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 26 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 27 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 1 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 2 Order; and 3 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 4 agreed upon by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or appointed by the 5 Court. 6 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 7 OTHER LITIGATION 8 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 9 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 10 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 11 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will 12 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 13 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 14 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 15 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order; and 17 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 18 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 19 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 20 subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action as 21 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the relevant court unless the Party has 22 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party will bear the 23 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 24 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 25 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 26 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 27 IN THIS LITIGATION 1 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 2 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 3 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 4 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 5 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 6 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a 7 Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 8 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 9 then the Party will: 10 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 11 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 12 Non-Party; 13 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 14 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 15 specific description of the information requested; and 16 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 17 Party, if requested. 18 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 21 days 19 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 20 the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the 21 Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce any 22 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 23 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 24 contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 25 court of its Protected Material. 26 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 1 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 2 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 3 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 4 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 5 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 6 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 7 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 8 PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 10 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the 11 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 12 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 13 12. MISCELLANEOUS 14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 18 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 19 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 20 to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 21 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 22 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 23 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 24 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is 25 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 26 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 27 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 1 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 2 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 3 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 4 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 5 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 6 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must 7 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or 8 entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 9 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) 10 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 11 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 12 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 13 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 14 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 15 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 16 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 17 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 1 2 3 4 SANCTIONS 5 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal contempt 6 || proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 7 || other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 8 9 || IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 10 11 Dated: November 6, 2024 HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney 12 KATHLEEN KENEALY, Chief Assistant City Attorney 13 CORY M. BRENTE, Senior Assistant City Attorney 14 By: Yeremy B. Warren 15 JEREMY B. WARREN, Deputy City Attorney 16 Attorneys for Defendants, LOS ANGELES 7 POLICE DEPARTMENT, CAPTAIN MIKE RIPPE, DETECTIVE WILLIAM ACOSTA, 18 AND DETECTIVE JOSE CASTANEDA 19 Dated: November 6, 2024 LAW OFFICES OF AKUDINOBI & IKONTE 20 21 By: /s/ Chijioke O. Ikonte 22 Chijioke O. Ikonte 23 Attorneys for Plaintiffs MF and DANIELLE FIERRO 24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 fo hrehbotlr DATED: 11/6/2024 27 HON. JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH 28 United States Magistrate Judge

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3

4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of ______________________ 5 ____________________ [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read 6 in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the 7 United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 8 Danielle Fierro, MF by and through her guardian ad litem Danielle Fierro v. Los 9 Angeles Police Department, et al., USDC Case No. 2:24-cv-03916-HDV-JPRx. I 10 agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 11 and I 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 not 13 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 provisions 15 of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 17 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 18 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 19 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of ____________ 20 _______________________________________ [full address and telephone number] 21 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 22 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 23

24 Date: ___________________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: ___________________________________ 26 Printed name: ___________________________________ 27 Signature: ___________________________________