The opinion
1
2 Nathan A. Oyster (SBN 225307)
E-mail: noyster@bwslaw.com
3 Caylin W. Jones (SBN 327829)
E-mail: cjones@bwslaw.com
4 BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP
444 South Flower Street, 40th Floor
5 Los Angeles, California 90071-2942
Tel: 213.236.0600 Fax: 213.236.2700
6
Attorneys for Defendants,
7 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE and
JULIO OLGUIN
8
9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
11
12 KENNETH SOTO, individually and as Case No. 5:25-cv-00182-CAS-DTBx
successor in interest to Decedent [5:25-cv-00874-CAS-SHKx]
13 Kenneth Soto,
14 Plaintiff,
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
15 v. ORDER
16 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE; and DOES
1 through 100, inclusive, Judge: Christina A. Snyder
17
Defendant.
18
19 ANDREA SOTO, individually and as
successor in interest to Decedent
20 Kenneth Andrew Soto,
21 Plaintiff,
22 v.
23 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, JULIO
OLGUIN and DOES 1 through 10,
24 inclusive,
25 Defendants.
26
27
1 TO THE HONORABLE COURT:
2 Plaintiffs KENNETH SOTO and ANDREA SOTO, (hereinafter referred to as
3 “Plaintiffs”) and Defendants COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE and JULIO OLGUIN
4 (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Defendants”) hereby stipulate for the purpose
5 of jointly requesting that the honorable Court enter a protective order as follows:
6 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
7 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
8 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
9 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
10 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
11 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
12 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that
13 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
14 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
15 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,
16 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
17 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be
18 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from
19 the court to file material under seal.
20 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
21 This action relates to the officer involved shooting of Kenneth Soto. The parties
22 submit that good cause exists to enter the proposed protective order to balance
23 Defendant’s concern regarding the investigation into the shooting, autopsy
24 photographs, and concerns regarding witnesses’ identities. Further, confidential
25 medical records regarding the decedent are likely to be subpoenaed and/or produced
26 during the course of litigation.
27 2. DEFINITIONS
2.1. Action: this pending federal law suit Kenneth Soto v. County of Riverside,
1 case number 5:25-cv-00182-CAS-SHK, consolidated with Andrea Soto v. County of
2 Riverside 5:25-cv-00874-CAS-SHK.
3 2.2. Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
4 of information or items under this Order.
5 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
7 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
8 Cause Statement.
9 2.4. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
10 support staff).
11 2.5. Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
13 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 2.6. Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
18 2.7. Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
20 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
21 2.8. House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
22 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
23 counsel.
24 2.9. Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
25 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
26 2.10. Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
27 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
1 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
2 2.11. Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
3 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
4 support staffs).
5 2.12. Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
6 Discovery Material in this Action.
7 2.13. Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
8 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
9 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
10 and their employees and subcontractors.
11 2.14. Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
12 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
13 2.15. Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
14 from a Producing Party.
15 3. SCOPE
16 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
17 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
18 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
19 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
20 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
21 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
22 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
23 4. DURATION
24 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
25 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and
26 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press,
27 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed
otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City
1 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
2 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling
3 reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record).
4 Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
5 commencement of the trial.
6 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 5.1. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
8 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection
9 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
10 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
11 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
12 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
13 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
14 within the ambit of this Order.
15 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
16 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
17 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
18 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
19 to sanctions.
20 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
21 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
22 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
23 5.2. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
24 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
25 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
26 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
27 produced.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
1 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
2 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
3 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
4 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
5 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
6 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
7 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
8 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
9 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
10 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
11 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants
13 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
14 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the
15 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”
16 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
17 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
18 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
19 margins).
20 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
21 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all
22 protected testimony.
23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
24 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
25 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
26 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
27 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
portion(s).
1 5.3 Inadvertent Failure to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
2 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
3 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
4 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
5 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
6 Order.
7 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
8 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
9 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
10 Scheduling Order.
11 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
12 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
13 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
14 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
15 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
16 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
17 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
18 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
19 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
20 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
22 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
23 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
24 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
25 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
26 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
27 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 persons
1 authorized under this Order.
2 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
3 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
4 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
5 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
6 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
7 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
8 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
9 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
10 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
11 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
12 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (d) the court and its personnel;
15 (e) court reporters and their staff;
16 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
17 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and
18 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
19 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information
20 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
21 (h) During their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses,
22 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
23 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they
24 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
26 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
27 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
1 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
2 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
3 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
5 OTHER LITIGATION
6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
7 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
10 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
12 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
13 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
14 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
16 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
18 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
19 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
20 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
21 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
22 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
23 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
24 directive from another court.
25 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
26 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
27 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
1 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
2 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
4 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
5 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
6 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
7 confidential information, then the Party shall:
8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
9 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
10 with a Non-Party;
11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
12 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
13 specific description of the information requested; and
14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
15 Non-Party, if requested.
16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
17 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
18 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
19 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
20 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
21 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court
22 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
23 protection in this court of its Protected Material.
24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
27 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
1 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
2 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
3 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
4 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
5 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
6 PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
11 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
12 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
13 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
14 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
15 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
16 to the court.
17 12. MISCELLANEOUS
18 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
19 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
21 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
22 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
23 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
24 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
27 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
1 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
2 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
3 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
4 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
5 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
6 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
7 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
8 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
9 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
10 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person
11 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by
12 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed
13 and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
14 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
15 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an
16 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
17 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
18 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
19 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
20 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
21 Section 4 (DURATION).
22 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
23 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
24 sanctions.
25
26
27
1 IT IS SO STIPULATED
2 || Dated: September 3, 2025 BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP
3
4
5 By: /s/ Caylin W. Jones
Nathan A. Oyster
6 Caylin W. Jones
7 Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY
OF RIVERSIDE and JULIO OLGUIN
9
19|| Dated: September 3, 2025 LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY PEACOCK
11
12
By: /s/ Gregory Peacock
13 Gregory Peacock
14 Attorney for Plaintiff KENNETH
SOTO
15
16
Dated: September 3, 2025 LAW OFFICES OF JERRY L. STEERING
18
19
By: /s/ Jerry Steering
20 Jerry Steering
21 Attorney for Plaintiff ANDREA
SOTO
22
23
94 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
25 Dated: September 9, 2025 / fe
26 HONORABL¥ DAVID T. BRISTOW
United States Magistrate Judge
28
E, WILLIAMS &
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
6 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective
7 Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of
8 California on ____________ in the case of Kenneth Soto v. County of Riverside, et
9 al. Case No. 5:25-cv-00182-CAS-SHK, consolidated with Andrea Soto v. County of
10 Riverside, et al. 5:25-cv-00874-CAS-SHK. I agree to comply with and to be bound
11 by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
12 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
13 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
14 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
15 person or entity except in strict compliance with the 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 __________________________ [print or
20 type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type
21 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
22 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
23 Stipulated Protective Order.
24 Date:
25 City and State where sworn and signed:
26 Printed Name:
27
Signature: