1 jJratm@ejso nRe sT-omuacyhesrt.ocnoem, SBN 184584 2 Melissa M. Ballard, SBN 185739 [email protected] 3 JONES MAYER 3777 North Harbor Boulevard 4 Fullerton, CA 92835 Tel: (714) 446-1400; 5 Fax: (714) 446-1448 6 Attorneys for Defendants, CITY OF ONTARIO, 7 OFFICER JONAH HELLMOLD, OFFICER SERGIO GUERRERO, DETECTIVE GARY 8 NARANJO, and CORPORAL EMILY HALL 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, EASTERN DIVISION 11 12 KYLE JONES and CRYSTAL JONES, Case No. 5:24-cv-01270-SSS-SPx 13 Plaintiffs, 14

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 15 v. ORDER

16 CITY OF ONTARIO, and Does 5 17 through 10 inclusive,

18

19 Defendants.

20

21 1. INTRODUCTION 22 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 24 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be 26 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter 27 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order 28 1 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 2 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 3 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 4 applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 5 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file 6 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures 7 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 8 permission from the court to file material under seal. 9 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 10 The Parties represent that pre-trial discovery in this case may include matters 11 that are confidential and privileged and may require the discovery of and/or 12 production of documents pertaining to the Ontario Police Department’s investigation 13 of the underlying criminal activities, as well as peace officer personnel file 14 information and/or documents which the Parties agree may include: (1) Personal 15 data, including marital status, family members, educational and employment history, 16 home addresses, or similar information; (2) Medical history; (3) Election of 17 employee benefits; (4) Employee advancement, appraisal, or discipline; and (5) 18 Complaints, or investigations of complaints, if any, concerning an event or 19 transaction in which a peace officer participated, or which a peace officer perceived, 20 and pertaining to the manner in which the peace officer performed his or her duties. 21 Discovery may also include Plaintiffs’ medical history and treatment which an 22 assertion of privacy may apply. 23 Such confidential materials and information consist of, among other things, 24 materials which may be entitled to privileges and/or protections under the following: 25 United States Constitution, First Amendment; the California Constitution, Article I, 26 Section 1; California Penal Code §§ 832.5, 832.7 and 832.8; California Evidence 27 Code §§ 1040 and 1043 et. seq; the Privacy Act of 1974,

; Health 28 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA); the right to privacy; 1 decisional law relating to such provisions; and information otherwise generally 2 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from 3 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. 4 Defendants also contend that certain information is privileged as official 5 information. Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana,

(9th Cir. Cal. 1990); 6 see also Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal.,

(9th 7 Cir. 1975), aff'd,

,

,

(1976). The 8 information otherwise may be generally unavailable to the public, or may be 9 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court 10 rules, case decision, or common law. 11 Further, discovery may require depositions, written discovery and/or the 12 production of certain Ontario Police Department Policies and Procedures and peace 13 officer training information the public disclosure of which could comprise officer 14 safety, and/or raise security issues. Additionally, Defendants contend that that public 15 disclosure of such material and information poses a substantial risk of 16 embarrassment, oppression and/or physical harm to peace officers whose 17 confidential information is disclosed. The Parties further agree that the risk of harm 18 to peace officers is greater than with other government employees due to the nature 19 of their profession. Finally, Defendants contend that the benefit of public disclosure 20 of confidential information is minimal while the potential disadvantages are great. 21 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 22 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 23 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 24 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation 25 for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, 26 and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in 27 this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 28 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 1 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there 2 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: Kyle Jones and Crystal Jones v. City of Ontario, and Does 5-10 5 inclusive, United District Court Case No. 5:24-cv-01270-SSS-SP. 6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 7 of information or items under this Order. 8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 10 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 11 Cause Statement. 12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 13 their support staff). 14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 17 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 18 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 19 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 20 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 21 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 24 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 25 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 26 counsel. 27 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 28 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 2 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 4 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 5 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this Action. 10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 13 and their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 17 from a Producing Party. 18 19 3. SCOPE 20 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 21 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 22 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 23 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 24 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 25 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 26 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 27 28 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 4 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be 5 the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without 6 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all 7 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time 8 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 9 applicable law. 10 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 12 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 13 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 14 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 15 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 16 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, 17 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 18 within the ambit of this Order. 19 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 20 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 21 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 22 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 23 Party to sanctions. 24 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 25 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 26 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 27 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 28 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 1 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 2 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 3 produced. 4 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 5 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 6 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 7 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 8 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 9 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 10 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 11 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 12 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 13 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party 14 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 15 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 16 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 17 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 18 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 19 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 20 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 21 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 22 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 23 appropriate markings in the margins). 24 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 25 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 26 deposition all protected testimony. 27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 28 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place 1 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 2 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 3 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the 4 protected portion(s). 5 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 7 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 8 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 9 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 10 Order. 11 12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 15 Scheduling Order. 16 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 17 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 18 et seq. 19 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 20 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 21 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 22 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 23 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the 24 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 25 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 26 27 28 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 4 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 6 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 7 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 9 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 10 authorized under this Order. 11 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 12 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 13 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 14 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 15 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 16 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 17 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 18 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 19 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 20 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 21 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 (d) the Court and its personnel; 24 (e) court reporters and their staff; 25 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 26 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 27 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 28 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 1 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 2 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 3 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 4 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 5 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 6 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 7 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 8 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 9 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 10 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 11 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 12 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 13 14 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 15 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 20 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 22 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 23 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 24 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 26 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 27 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 28 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action 1 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 2 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. 3 The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 4 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed 5 as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 6 directive from another court. 7 8 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 9 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 11 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 12 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 13 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 14 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 16 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 17 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 18 confidential information, then the Party will: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 20 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 21 agreement with a Non-Party; 22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 23 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 24 specific description of the information requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 26 Non-Party, if requested. 27 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 28 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 1 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 2 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 3 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 4 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 5 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 6 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 7 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 9 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 10 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 11 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 12 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 13 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 14 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 15 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 16 17 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 18 PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 20 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 21 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 22 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 23 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 24 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 25 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 26 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 27 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 28 to the court. 1 2 12. MISCELLANEOUS 3 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 4 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 5 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 6 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 7 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 8 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 9 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 10 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 11 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 12 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 13 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 14 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 15 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 16 17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 18 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 19 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 20 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 21 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 22 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 23 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 24 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 25 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 26 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 27 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 28 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 1 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 2 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 3 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 4 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 5 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 6 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 7 Section 4 (DURATION). 8 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 9 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 10 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.

11 Respectfully Submitted,

12 Dated: June 11, 2025 JONES MAYER

13

14 By:/s/ Melissa M. Ballard 15 James R. Touchstone Melissa M. Ballard 16 Attorneys for Defendants OFFICER JONAH HELLMOLD, 17 OFFICER SERGIO GUERRERO, DETECTIVE GARY NARANJO, 18 CORPORAL EMILY HALL

19

20 Dated: May 20, 2025 PLC LAW GROUP, APC

21

22 By:/s/Na’Shaun L. Neal 23 Peter L. Carr, IV Na’Shaun L. Neal 24 Lauren K. McRae 25 Attorneys for Plaintiffs, KYLE JONES and CRYSTAL JONES 26

27

28 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 2 3 TP > | Dated: June 13, 2025 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of 5 ____________________________ [full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on [date] in the case of Kyle Jones and Crystal Jones v. City of Ontario, Does 5-10 9 inclusive, United District Court Case No. 5:24-cv-01270-SSS-SP. I agree to 10 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 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 Court 17 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 18 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 19 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 20 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection 22 with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated 23 Protective Order. 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28