Aaron Glazier v. County of Los Angeles

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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10 AARON GLAZIER

Case No. 2:20-cv-00924-AB-RAO

11 Plaintiff,

12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER1

13 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES;

14 DEPUTY ADAMS; SGT. NORTH;

DEPUTY SINAY; DEPUTY

15 BRANNIGAN and DOES 1-10,

16 inclusive,

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Defendant.

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20 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public

23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may

24 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to

25 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this

26 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to

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1 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends

2 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment

3 under the applicable legal principles.

4 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

5 This civil rights action arises from Plaintiff’s arrest on January 29, 2018 for

6 resisting arrest. Plaintiff alleges that he was unlawfully detained and arrested

7 without probable cause and subjected to a criminal prosecution based on fabricated

8 evidence.

9 As explained below, this action is likely to involve materials protected by

10 California Evidence Code section 1040, California Code of Civil Procedure section

11 129, California Penal Code section 632, the official information privilege or other

12 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law prohibiting or

13 limiting dissemination and disclosure. Additionally, this action may involve other

14 proprietary information concerning police practices and security protocols for which

15 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than

16 prosecution of this action is warranted.

17 In terms of discovery, Defendants anticipate that a protective order will be

18 necessary in connection with the following items of evidence: 1) personnel and

19 administrative records of peace officers; 2) mental health and medical records

20 protected by HIPAA; 3) law enforcement investigative records which reveal the

21 identity of third party witnesses; and 4) such other evidence for which dissemination

22 should be limited for use in this action only.

23 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, facilitate the prompt

24 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, adequately protect

25 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, ensure that the parties are

26 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the

27 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the

1 the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for

2 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it

3 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause

4 why it should not be part of the public record of this case.

5 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL

6 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this

7 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

8 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed

9 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court

10 to file material under seal.

11 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial

12 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,

13 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and

14 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors

15 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics,

16 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders

17 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling

18 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with

19 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere

20 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—

21 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the

22 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or

23 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

24 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

25 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the

26 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.

27 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For

1 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking

2 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal

3 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting

4 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

5 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in

6 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted.

7 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting

8 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document

9 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their

10 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

11 2. DEFINITIONS

12 2.1 Action: Aaron Glazier v. County of Los Angeles, et al.

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 of

16 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for

17 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in

18 the Good Cause Statement.

19 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

20 their support staff).

21 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

22 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

23 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

25 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

26 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or

27 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

1 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as

2 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

3 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

4 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

5 counsel.

6 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

7 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

8 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

9 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and

10 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm

11 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

12 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

13 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

14 support staffs).

15 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

16 Discovery Material in this Action.

17 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

18 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

19 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

20 and their employees and subcontractors.

21 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

22 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

23 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

24 Material from a Producing Party.

25 3. SCOPE

26 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

27 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

1 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

2 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

3 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the

4 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

5 4. DURATION

6 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

7 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced

8 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all

9 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by

10 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance

11 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”

12 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

13 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

14 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

17 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under

18 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that

19 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for

20 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written

21 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items

22 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably

23 within the ambit of this Order.

24 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

25 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

26 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

27 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating

1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

4 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

5 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise

6 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

7 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

8 produced.

9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

11 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

12 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend

13 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

14 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

15 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)

16 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

18 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

19 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and

20 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be

21 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the

22 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which

23 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,

24 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

25 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a

26 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

27 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies

2 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the

3 deposition all protected testimony.

4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and

5 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on

6 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the

7 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information

8 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the

9 protected portion(s).

10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

11 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive

12 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

13 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

14 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

15 Order.

16 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

17 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

18 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

19 Scheduling Order.

20 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

21 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

22 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

23 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper

24 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other

25 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating

26 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

27 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is

1 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the

2 challenge.

3 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

4 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

5 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

6 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such

7 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

8 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a

9 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL

10 DISPOSITION).

11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

12 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

13 authorized under this Order.

14 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

15 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

16 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

17 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as

19 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably

20 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of

22 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

24 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

26 (d) the court and its personnel;

27 (e) court reporters and their staff;

1 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

2 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

3 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

4 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

5 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the

6 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party

7 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they

8 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

9 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

10 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

11 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may

12 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except

13 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

14 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

15 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

16 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

17 IN OTHER LITIGATION

18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

19 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

20 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification

22 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order

24 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the

25 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include

26 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

2 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this

3 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the

4 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

5 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

6 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions

7 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action

8 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

9 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

10 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a

12 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

13 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

14 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

15 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

17 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is

18 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s

19 confidential information, then the Party shall:

20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

21 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

22 agreement with a Non-Party;

23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

24 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

25 specific description of the information requested; and

26 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the

27 Non-Party, if requested.

1 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

2 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery

3 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

4 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

5 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.

6 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and

7 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

8 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

9 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

10 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

11 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

12 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

13 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

14 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

15 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

16 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

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

23 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production

24 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and

25 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a

26 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work

27 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated

1 12. MISCELLANEOUS

2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

10 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material

11 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

12 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material

13 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information

14 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

15 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

17 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return

18 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in

19 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

20 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

21 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

22 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same

23 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies

24 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or

25 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

26 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

27 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

1 |] transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

2 |} reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

3 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

4 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

5 || Section 4 (DURATION).

6 || 14. VIOLATION

7 || Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including,

8 || without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

9 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

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11 || DATED: May 10, 2021

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13 /s/ Justin Palmer

4 Attorneys for Plaintiff

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16 || DATED: _May 10, 2021

17

18 || /s/ Chandler A. Parker

19 Attorneys for Defendant

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22 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

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24 || DATED: May 11, 2021

| Rayekla, , Qe

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27 || United States Magisirate Judge

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1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3

4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of

5 _________________ [print or type 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 ___________ [Aaron Glazier v. County of Los Angeles, et

9 al. (2:20-cv-00924-AB-RAO)]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the

10 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that

11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of

12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any

13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person

14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the

16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective

17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of

19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and

20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with

21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective

22 Order.

23 Date: ______________________________________

24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

25

26 Printed name: _______________________________

27