Opinion

Perez v. County of Kern

Court: District Court, E.D. California
Filed: Aug 26, 2025
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

1 POWELL & ASSOCIATES

925 West Hedding Street

2 San Jose, California 95126

T: 408-553-0200 F: 408-553-0201

3 E: admin@rrpassociates.com

Attorney for Plaintiff

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ALEJANDRO ANDRES PEREZ, et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-00358-KES-CDB

STIPULATION AND ORDER

Plaintiff,

12 v. RE: PROTECTIVE ORDER

AS MODIFIED

COUNTY OF KERN, et al.,

Defendants.

16 The parties hereto, by and through their respective counsel, do hereby stipulate and

17 agree as follows:

18 1. The Protective Order as set forth in the following pages will be the Protective

19 Order applicable in this action with regard to potentially sensitive documents and

20 information the parties believe will be the subject of discovery in this proceeding, and may

21 also be subject in part to State and Federal statutes limiting public disclosure.

22 2. Defendant Eichhorst, has not yet answered upon service of the Complaint and

23 Summons in this action, but no interests of Ms. Eichhorst will be harmed or affected by the

24 Court authorizing the application of this Protective Order to this action, and Counsel for

25 //

26 //

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1 Plaintiff shall ensure service of this filing upon Ms. Eichhorst when executed by the Court.

2 IT IS SO STIPULATED.

3 _/S/ Andrew C. Hamilton 08/26/2025 __/S/ Robert R. Powell __ 08/26/2025

4 ANDREW C. HAMILTON ROBERT R. POWELL

Attorney - Kern County Defendants Attorney for Plaintiffs

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: _ August 26, 2025 | Wan D bh

Christohper D. Baker, U.S. Magistrate Judge

28 ff

PROTECTIVE ORDER RE: CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION

Case No.: 1:25-cv-00358-CDB

Perez, et al., v. County of Kern, et al.

1 Perez v. County of Kern, et al.

2 Eastern District Court of California

Case No. 1:25-cv-00358-CDB

I. DEFINITIONS

1) The “Action” or “Matter” as used herein, refers to the case of Perez et al v.

County of Kern et al, 1:25-cv-00358-CDB

2) The “Cases” for purposes of this Protective Order refers to Kern County Superior

7 Court Case No.’s JUV-0613699 & JD144416-00 (Alejandro Perez), AND, JUV-

8 0613699 & JD144417-00 (E.P.), and for purposes of the following Protective Order

9 terms and conditions specifically relates to the “juvenile case files” for the Cases as

10 the phrase “juvenile case files” is described by C.R.C. 5.552. Juvenile case files also

11 include for purposes of this Protective Order, any law enforcement related

12 WRITINGS (e.g. incident/police reports, audio and/or video footage or materials)

13 relating to Plaintiff Ashley Sinden, and also Alejandro Perez Jr. (deceased). Any

14 WRITINGS as that term is described at “4)” below, that are produced for reasons

related to review or use in the Action from “juvenile case files” of the Cases are

presumptively “Confidential” as defined below. Regardless of any other terms of

this Protective Order, inclusive of “Confidential” defined in “4)” below, WRITINGS

that did not originate from or were created by persons who were employees or

contractors or administrative sub-units of the County of Kern are not presumptively

“Confidential.” The Resource Family Approval file for Margaret Eichhorst is

presumptively “Confidential.”

3) “Challenging Party” for purposes this Protective Order refers to a Party or Non-

Party that challenges the designation of information or items as “Confidential” under

this Order by another party.

4) “Confidential” and/or “Confidential Information” for purposes of this Protective

25 Order refers to WRITINGS as that term is defined by California Evid. Code 250, and

26 further includes the kinds of materials and other tangible items and information in

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1 various forms as described in FRCP 34(a)(1)(a), that may qualify as Protected

2 Material and/or have been designated “Confidential” by a Party or Non-Party.

3 5) “Counsel” for purposes this Protective Order refers to attorneys of record in the

4 Action and their affiliated attorneys, paralegals, clerical, and secretarial staff who are

5 actively involved in prosecuting or defending in the Action. Should any non-lawyer

(eg. an expert or consultant for an attorney/party) be given access to Confidential

Materials the Counsel that provides those Confidential Materials to the Non-Party

person or entity shall advise the recipient(s) in writing that such materials are being

disclosed pursuant to, and subject to the terms of this Protective Order, shall provide

the recipient(s) with a copy of this Protective Order, and shall expressly advise the

recipient(s) that they may not be disclosed other than pursuant to the terms of this

Protective Order.

5) “Designating Party” for purposes this Protective Order refers to a Party or Non-

Party that designates information or items that it produces in disclosures or in

responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

6) “Disclosure or Discovery Material” for purposes this Protective Order refers to all

16 WRITINGS as that term is defined above that are produced or provided from one or

17 more parties to one or more other parties in this litigation which are protected from

18 public disclosure under a specifically applicable State or Federal Law.

19 7) “Expert” for purposes of this Protective Order is defined as a person with

20 specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the Action who has been

21 retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant for

22 the Action; Experts hired for consultation or retention in the Action may be provided

23 Protected Material and Confidential Information provided terms of I(5) above are

complied with.

8) “Non-Party” for purposes of this Protective Order refers to any natural person,

partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to the

Action.

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1 9) “Party” for purposes of this Protective Order refers to any party Plaintiff or

2 Defendant in the Action, including in the case of an entity or governmental

3 administrative sub-unit, all of its/their officers, directors, employees, consultants,

4 Experts and support staff.

5 10) “Producing Party” for purposes this Protective Order refers to a Party or Non-

Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in the Action.

11 ) “Professional Vendor” for purposes this Protective Order refers to persons or

entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping,

translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or

retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.

12) “Protected Materials” for purposes of the following provisions refers to any

Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” by a

Designating Party.

13) “Receiving Party” for purposes of this Protective Order refers to a Party that

receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party.

II. SCOPE

16 1) The protections conferred by this Protective Order cover not only Protected

17 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from

18 Protected Material;

19 2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material;

20 3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that

21 might reveal Protected Material.

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

23 judge; this Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

III. DURATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIONS END AT TRIAL

1) Once a case proceeds to a trial all of the information that was designated as

Confidential or Protected Material pursuant to this protective order becomes public

and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press,

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1 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed

2 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City

3 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180–81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing

4 “good cause” showing for sealing WRITINGS produced in discovery from

5 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related WRITINGS are part of court

record). Accordingly, the terms of this Protective Order do not extend beyond the

commencement of the trial.

IV. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

1) Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection as

Confidential under this Protective Order must take care to limit any such designation

to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards and the terms of

this Protective Order. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those

parts of WRITINGS that qualify so that other portions of the WRITINGS for which

protection from public disclosure is not warranted by existing State of Federal law

are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Protective Order.

16 2) Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that

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

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

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

20 Party to sanctions.

21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that WRITINGS the Designating Party

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

23 promptly notify all other Parties in writing that it is withdrawing the inapplicable

designation of the WRITINGS.

Manner and Timing of Designations

3) Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section

5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery

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1 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated

2 before and/or at the time the material is disclosed or produced. Designation in

3 conformity with this Order requires the following:

4 a) For WRITINGS in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

5 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), the

Producing Party will affix, at a minimum, a legend, stamp, or label indicating

“CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Confidential Information, and

make such markings, highlights, and/or margin notes as necessary within a

specific page to readily distinguish Confidential Information from non-

Confidential Information contained within a single page of a WRITING.

b) In the event a WRITING consists of a video or an audio recording, the

Producing Party shall produce the Confidential Information simultaneous with a

separate document identifying the video or audio recording by its electronic

filename and associated Bates number, if used, and also in the separate

document identifying what portion of any such items it is designating as

Confidential Information, by identifying the beginning time and ending time of

16 any Confidential Information qualifying portion of the video or audio recording.

17 The item, if stored and produced in a container, may also be labeled as

18 CONFIDENTIAL if it is the Producing Party’s intention to identify the entirety

19 of the video or audio recording as Confidential Information.

20 c) A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

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

22 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the

23 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for

inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.”

d) After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and

produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions

thereof qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the

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1 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the CONFIDENTIAL

2 legend, stamp or label to each page that contains Protected Material.

3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate

4 4) If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified Confidential

5 Information or items does not standing alone waive the Designating Party’s right to

secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a

designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the

material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

V. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

Timing of Challenges

1) Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at

any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.

Meet and Confer

2) The Challenging Party shall first seek to meet and confer with the

Designating Party, and if agreement cannot be reached, shall initiate the dispute

resolution process under Local Rule 251 et seq if there is a dispute as to a WRITING

16 or a portion of a WRITING that has been designated as Confidential.

17 3) Pursuant to L.R. 302(c)(1) any challenge brought to a confidentiality

18 designation will be brought before the Court only after having exhausted the Court’s

19 mandatory informal discovery dispute procedures (see Doc. 31 at 4-5). The burden

20 of persuasion in any such challenge or contested proceeding shall be on the

21 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose

22 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

23 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived

or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing

Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

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1 VI. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

2 Basic Principles

3 1) A Receiving Party may use Confidential and/or Protected Material that is

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

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

Confidential and/or Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of

persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been

terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below

(FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

person/persons authorized under this Order.

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items

3) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating

Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

“CONFIDENTIAL” only to those identified in section 1(4), and the following;

16 a) The court and its personnel, court reporters, court reporters and their staff;

17 b) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors

18 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation;

19 c) The author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

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

21 d) Persons during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses

22 e) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, which

23 the Party’s have engaged in settlement, mediation, or other alternative dispute

resolution processes.

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1 LITIGATION.

2 1) If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that

3 seeks to compel disclosure of any information or items designated in this matter as

4 “CONFIDENTIAL” must:

5 a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

6 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

7 b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

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

9 subpoena or order is subject to a Protective Order;

c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by

the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected; this does not

mean the non-Designating Party must agree with Designating Party’s position.

d) If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, or to in any manner

invoke the terms of this Protective Order, the Party served with the subpoena or

court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as

“CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the

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

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

protection in the other court or action from which the subpoena or order was

issued or obtained, of the subject material’s confidential nature; nothing in these

20 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party

21 in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

VIII. NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT IN THIS ACTION

1) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in

24 this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by

25 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief

26 provided by this Protective Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as

27 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

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1 2) In the event a Party is required by a valid discovery request from a Requesting

2 Party to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the

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

4 confidential information, then the Party shall promptly notify in writing the

5 Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is

subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;

3) Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in

this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description

of the information requested, copying the Requesting Party in any communications

with the Non-Party in this regard as well at the same time; and

4) Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if

requested.

5) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of

receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

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

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

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

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

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

19 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

20 IX. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

21 1) If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 X. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION & PRIVILEGE LIST REQUIREMENT

4 1) When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

5 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

parties may incorporate their agreement in a stipulated protective order submitted to

the court.

2) Counsel for any Producing Party subject to this Protective Order, shall ensure that

with the production of any WRITINGS to another Party, Non-Party, Counsel

provides a Privilege Log identifying any redactions of WRITINGS, or entire

16 WRITINGS withheld, in which to the extent relevant, the log indicates the relevant

17 date, author(s), recipient(s), the general subject matter or content, as well as the

18 specific privilege or protection being asserted, including any statutory authority for

19 withholding the information or entire WRITING. The Parties hereto acknowledge

20 that they understand and agree the goals of a Privilege Log are to provide enough

21 information to justify the claim of privilege without disclosing the privileged

22 information itself, and give the other Party/ies enough information to make an

23 informed and reasoned decision on the propriety of objecting to the withholding of

redacted information or an entire WRITING, or waiving any such objection(s).

XII. MISCELLANEOUS

1) Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Protective Order abridges the right of any

Party or person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

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1 2) Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective

2 Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or

3 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated

4 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use

5 in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

3) Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected

Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be

filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific

Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is

denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public

record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

4) Nothing herein prohibits any Party from seeking a ruling from the Court that any

item produced in discovery is not, or should not be, deemed confidential, and

requesting an Order not requiring the filing of any item under seal.

XIII. FINAL DISPOSITION

1) After the final disposition of this Action which for all purposes is that point in

16 time where there are no appealable rights on any issue remain, within 60 days of a

17 written request by the Designating Party, Counsel for each Receiving Party must

18 return all Protected Material to the Counsel for Producing Party or destroy such

19 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies,

20 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing

21 any of the Protected Material, but does not include such items prepared by the

22 Counsel (i.e. attorney work product). Whether the Protected Material is returned or

23 destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing

Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day

deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material

other than as excepted in paragraph 2 below, was returned or destroyed and (2)

affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

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1 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

2 Material other than as excepted in paragraph 2 below.

3 2) Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an

4 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

5 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

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

constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order.

3) Any violation of this Protective Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary

sanctions.

4) All WRITINGS constituting Protected Material from the juvenile case file are not

required to be destroyed by the parent Ashley Sinden or her Counsel, each of whom

has the right to receive and possess copies of any and all juvenile case files pursuant

to W&IC 827(a)(1)(D&E); (a)(3)(A)(1); (a)(4&5), notwithstanding any terms of this

Protective Order.

17 END

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