The opinion
1 Bradley C. Gage, Esq., Cal. S.B. No. 117808
Email: brad@bradgagelaw.com
2
Milad Sadr, Esq., Cal. S.B. No. 245080
3 Email: milad@bradgagelaw.com
BRAD GAGE LAW, APC
4
23002 Victory Boulevard
5 Woodland Hills, California 91367
Tel: (818) 340-9252 | Fax: (818) 340-9088
6
7 Attorneys for Plaintiff ALEXANDER MITCHELL
8
HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney (SBN 106866)
9 DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney (SBN 191992)
KATHLEEN KENEALY, Chief Assistant City Attorney (SBN 212289)
10
CORY M. BRENTE, Senior Assistant City Attorney (SBN 115453)
SUREKHA A. SHEPHERD, Assistant City Attorney (SBN 193206)
11
200 North Main Street, 6th Floor, City Hall East
12 Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone No.: (213) 978-7036 | Fax No.: (213) 978-8785
13 Email: Surekha.Shepherd@lacity.org
14 Attorneys for Defendants CITY OF LOS ANGELES and JOSHUA SPORTIELLO
15
16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
18
19 ALEXANDER MITCHELL CASE NO. 2:24-cv-10654-JAK (AJRx)
Hon. Judge John A. Kronstadt; 1st St -Ctrm. 10C
20
Plaintiff, Mag. Judge A. Joel Richlin; Roybal – Ctrm. 780
21
v.
22 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
CITY OF LOS ANGELES, JOSHUA PROTECTIVE ORDER
23 SPORTIELLO, and DOES 1-10,
inclusive,
24
25 Defendants.
26
27
1 1. GENERAL
2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations.
3 This is a civil action which stems from an incident that occurred in the City of
4 Los Angeles on July 28, 2024. Plaintiff, Alexander Mitchell, is seeking damages
5 against the City of Los Angeles and LAPD Officer Joshua Sportiello as a result of his
6 arrest and a use of force. Defendants have filed an Answer and the parties have
7 exchanged written discovery. Counsel for the parties participated in a lengthy and
8 meaningful meet and confer on May 19, 2025 pursuant to L.R. 37-1. In an effort to
9 expedite the progression of discovery, the parties are entering into this proposed
10 Stipulated Protective Order.
11 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
12 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
13 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
14 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following
15 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer
16 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it
17 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items
18 that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The
19 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated
20 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil
21 Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that
22 will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
23 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
24 Some of the documents at issue and which may be produced (either pursuant to
25 an agreement by the City and/or the Plaintiff or pursuant to orders of this Court) are
26 confidential and not subject to the exceptions set forth in Penal Code Section 832.7, and
27 otherwise protected by HIPPA, the right to privacy and state law, including but not
1 LAPD Investigation Division Investigations, Plaintiff’s criminal history information in
2 the possession of the LAPD, medical records pertaining to the Plaintiff. These types of
3 LAPD documents are likely to include information about third-parties, as well. Plaintiff
4 contends that some of the state law authorities may not apply in this litigation.
5
6 2. DEFINITIONS
7 2.1 Action: Alexander Mitchell v. City of Los Angeles, et al.; United States
8 Central District Court Case No.: 2:24-cv-10654-JAK (AJRx)
9 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
10 information or items under this Order.
11 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how
12 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under
13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause
14 Statement.
15 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
16 support staff).
17 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
18 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
19 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
20 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
21 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among
22 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated
23 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
24 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
25 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an
26 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
27 / / /
1 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
2 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
3 counsel.
4 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
6 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to
7 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
8 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has
9 appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
10 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
12 support staffs).
13 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
14 Discovery Material in this Action.
15 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
16 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and
18 their employees and subcontractors.
19 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
22 from a Producing Party.
23
24 3. SCOPE
25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected
26 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
27 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
1 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material, unless such information was already
2 publicly disseminated, e.g. videos on You Tube.
3 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial
4 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
5
6 4. DURATION
7 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
8 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective
9 order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public,
10 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to
11 proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v.
12 City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
13 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling
14 reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record).
15 Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
16 commencement of the trial The Parties’ Counsel agree not to put Police Officer
17 Personnel Records (including but not limited to Internal Affairs Investigations and UOF
18 Reports and other internal investigations) on the docket without moving to seal them.
19
20 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
22 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
23 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
24 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
25 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
26 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for
27 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this
1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that
2 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose
3 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
5 to sanctions.
6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this
10 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or
11 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order
12 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
13 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
14 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
15 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
16 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
17 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend” or “subject to
18 PROTECTIVE ORDER”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
19 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
20 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
21 markings in the margins). The marking of a document as CONFIDENTIAL must not
22 obstruct any portion of the materials.
23 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
24 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
25 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
26 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
27 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants
1 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
2 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page
3 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
4 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
5 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
7 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
9 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
10 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
12 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
13 portion(s).
14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
15 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
16 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon
17 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
18 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
19
20 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
21 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
22 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling
23 Order.
24 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
25 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
26 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
27 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
1 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
2 may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has
3 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford
4 the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
5 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
6
7 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
9 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
10 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
11 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
12 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
13 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
14 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
15 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
16 authorized under this Order. However, if required by any taxing authority, confidential
17 information may be provided to CPA’s tax preparers, the IRS or other taxing agencies.
18 In this instance, the parties are referencing Plaintiff’s financial records.
19 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
20 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving
21 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
22 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
23 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
24 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
25 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
26 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and the
27 Plaintiff;
1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
4 (d) the Court and its personnel;
5 (e) court reporters and their staff;
6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
8 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
12 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
13 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will
14 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed
16 by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition
17 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately
18 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
19 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and this Order shall not permit the disclosure of
20 confidential LAPD documents produced by any Defendant in this action to lay non-
21 expert witnesses who are identified by the Plaintiff in his Rule 26 disclosures, in
22 deposition and in written responses to Defendant City and/or Defendant Sportiello’s
23 written discovery, including but not limited to Plaintiff’s family members, friends and
24 other relatives (biological or by operation of law).
25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
26 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
27 / / /
1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
2 IN OTHER LITIGATION
3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that
4 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party and no later than within
7 three (3) business days of learning of the subpoena or court order. Such notification
8 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
9 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
10 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or
11 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this
12 Stipulated Protective Order; and
13 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
14 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
15 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
16 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
17 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
18 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
19 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
20 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
21 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
22 directive from another court. The Receiving Party will not interfere with any attempt by
23 the Designating Party to obtain an extension of time to respond to the subpoena if the
24 counsel for the Designating Party intends to seek a protective order. request.
25 / / /
26 / / /
27 / / /
1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
4 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced
5 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief
6 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting
7 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. However, non parties have the burden
8 of demonstrating an item is confidential and are subject to sanctions for frivolous
9 designations.
10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
11 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
12 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information,
13 then the Party shall:
14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some
15 or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-
16 Party;
17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
19 specific description of the information requested; and
20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
21 Party, if requested.
22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
23 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
24 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
25 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
26 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
27 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
1 protection in this Court of its Protected Material. If the production time limit is less
2 than 14 days the Non-Party must make an application for protective order before the
3 production deadline and may do so on an ex parte basis in accordance with L.R. 7-19, et
4 seq.
5
6 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing
10 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve
11 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to
12 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d)
13 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
14 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
15
16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
17 PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
19 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the
20 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
21 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
22 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
23 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
24 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
25 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
26 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to
27 the Court.
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 Protected
10 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed
11 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected
12 Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under seal. If a
13 Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the
14 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise
15 instructed by the Court.
16
17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
18 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
19 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
20 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
21 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format
22 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material
23 is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the
24 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the
25 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected
26 Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not
27 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing
1 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and
2 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits,
3 expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if
4 such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
5 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
6 Section 4 (DURATION).
7
8 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
9 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures
10 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
11
12 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
13
14 DATED:_J_un_e_ _16_,_ 2_0_2_5_____________
15
_/s_/ _B_ra_d_l_ey_ _G_a_g_e__________________
16 Bradley Gage, Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiff(s)
17
18
DATED:_J_un_e_ _16_,_ 2_0_2_5_____________
19
20 _/s_/ _S_u_re_k_h_a_ A_._ S_h_e_p_h_e_rd_ __________
ACA Surekha A. Shepherd Attorneys for Defendants City of Los Angeles and Joshua
21
Sportiello
22
23
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
24
25
DATED:_6_/1_6_/_2_0_2_5_______ __________________________________
26
HON. A. JOEL RICHLIN
27 United States Magistrate Judge
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full
5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand
6 the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for
7 the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the case of ___________
8 [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the
9 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure
10 to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is
12 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
13 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for
15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and telephone
19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or
20 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
21 Date: ______________________________________
22 City and State where signed: _________________________________
23
24 Printed name: _______________________________
25
26 Signature: __________________________________
27