The opinion
1 James R. Touchstone, SBN 184584
jrt@jones-mayer.com
2 Denise Lynch Rocawich, SBN 232792
dlr@jones-mayer.com
3 JONES MAYER
3777 North Harbor Boulevard
4 Fullerton, CA 92835
Telephone: (714) 446-1400
5 Facsimile: (714) 446-1448
6 Attorneys for Defendants
COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
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9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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12 FRANK VILLARAN; FRANK Case No.: 5:25-cv-00979-KK-DTB
13 THOMAS VILLARAN; ERICA Judge: Hon. Kenly Kiya Kato
SIMENTAL, individually and as Magistrate Judge: Hon. David T. Bristow
14 guardian ad litem for Plaintiff Minors
15 E.V. and J.V; MARISELA
SIMENTAL, individually and as
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guardian ad litem for Plaintiff Minor
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
17 LS., ORDER
18 Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO;
21 and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive,
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Defendants.
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1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
3 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
10 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
11 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
12 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a
14 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
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16 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
17 The Parties represent that pre-trial discovery in this case is likely to include
18 the production of information and/or documents that are confidential and/or
19 privileged including the production of peace officer personnel file information
20 and/or documents which the Parties agree includes: (1) Personal data, including
21 marital status, family members, educational and employment history, home
22 addresses, or similar information; (2) Medical history; (3) Election of employee
23 benefits; (4) Employee advancement, appraisal, or discipline; and (5) Complaints,
24 or investigations of complaints, concerning an event or transaction in which a peace
25 officer participated, or which a peace officer perceived, and pertaining to the
26 manner in which the peace officer performed his or her duties including compelled
27 statements by peace officers unless specifically denoted as “not confidential”
28 pursuant to Penal Code section 832.7. Defendants contend that such information is
1 privileged as official information. Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana, 936 F.2d 1027,
2 1033 (9th Cir. Cal. 1990); see also Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal., 511
3 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir.1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 48 L.Ed.2d 725
4 (1976). Further, discovery may require the production of certain San Bernardino
5 County Sheriffs’ Department Policies, Procedures and logs not available to the
6 public and the public disclosure of which could comprise officer safety, raise
7 security issues, and/or impede investigations. Peace officer personnel file
8 information and/or documents and security-sensitive policies and procedures are
9 hereinafter referred to as "Confidential Information".
10 Defendants contend that that public disclosure of such material poses a
11 substantial risk of embarrassment, oppression and/or physical harm to peace
12 officers whose Confidential Information is disclosed. The Parties further agree that
13 the risk of harm to peace officers is greater than with other government employees
14 due to the nature of their profession. Finally, the Defendants contend that the
15 benefit of public disclosure of Confidential Information is minimal while the
16 potential disadvantages are great.
17 Accordingly, good cause exists for entry of this Protective Order to facilitate
18 pre-trial disclosure while assuring the safety of these sensitive disclosures. See Fed.
19 R. Civ. Proc. 26(c).
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21 2. DEFINITIONS
22 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit.
23 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the
24 designation of information or items under this Order.
25 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of
26 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
27 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
28 the Good Cause Statement.
1 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
2 their support staff).
3 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information
4 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
5 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
6 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless
7 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
8 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
9 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
10 2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
11 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
12 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
13 2.8 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this
14 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
15 outside counsel.
16 2.9 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
17 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
18 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a
19 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
20 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
21 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
22 2.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
23 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
24 support staffs).
25 2.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
26 Discovery Material in this Action.
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1 2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation
2 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
4 and their employees and subcontractors.
5 2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
7 2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
8 from a Producing Party.
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10 3. SCOPE
11 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
12 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
13 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
14 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
15 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any
16 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge.
17 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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19 4. DURATION
20 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
21 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
22 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
23 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action,
24 with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
25 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
26 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
27 pursuant to applicable law.
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1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection
4 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material
5 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must
6 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or
7 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,
8 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not
9 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or
10 routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly
11 unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily
12 encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and
13 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. If it comes
14 to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for
15 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly
16 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
17 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations.
18 Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of
19 section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or
20 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
21 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. Designation in conformity
22 with this Order requires: (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or
23 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or
24 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
25 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
26 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
27 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
28 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or Non-
1 Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not designate
2 them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it
3 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation,
4 all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
5 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it
6 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
7 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
8 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
9 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
10 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must
11 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in
12 the margins). (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
13 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
14 deposition all protected testimony. (c) for information produced in some form other
15 than documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in
16 a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the
17 information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions
18 of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent
19 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
20 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate.
21 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information
22 or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure
23 protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
24 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the
25 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
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1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 6.1 Timing of Challenges.
3 Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any
4 time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
5 6.2 Meet and Confer.
6 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under
7 Local Rule 37.1 et seq. or follow the procedures for informal, telephonic discovery
8 hearings on the Court's website.
9 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
10 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
11 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
12 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
13 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
14 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
15 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
16 challenge.
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18 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
19 7.1 Basic Principles.
20 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced
21 by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for
22 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material
23 may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions
24 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party
25 must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
26 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location
27 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized
28 under this Order.
1 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
2 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the
3 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
4 designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
5 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
6 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
7 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
8 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
9 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
10 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
11 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
13 (d) the court and its personnel;
14 (e) court reporters and their staff;
15 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
16 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
17 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
18 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
19 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
20 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in
21 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
22 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2)
23 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
25 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
26 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
27 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
28 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
1 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
5 PRODUCED IN 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. If the
17 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
18 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
20 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
21 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
22 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
23 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
24 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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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
5 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
6 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
7 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
9 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
10 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
11 confidential information, then the Party shall:
12 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
13 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
14 agreement with a Non-Party;
15 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
16 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
17 specific description of the information requested; and
18 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
19 Non-Party, if requested.
20 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
21 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
22 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
23 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
24 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
25 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
26 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
27 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best
6 efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the
7 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of
8 this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment
9 and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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11 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
12 PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
14 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
15 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
16 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
17 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
18 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
19 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
20 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
21 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
22 protective order submitted to the court.
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24 12. MISCELLANEOUS
25 12.1 Right to Further Relief.
26 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its
27 modification by the Court in the future.
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1 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections.
2 By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order no Party waives any right
3 it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or
4 item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no
5 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the
6 material covered by this Protective Order.
7 12.3 Filing Protected Material.
8 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with
9 Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a
10 court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a
11 Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the
12 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise
13 instructed by the court.
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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
18 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
19 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
20 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
21 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
22 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
23 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
24 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
25 returned or destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
26 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
27 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
28 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
1 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
2 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
3 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival
4 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective
5 Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
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7 14. VIOLATIONS OF ORDER
8 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
9 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
10 sanctions.
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IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD
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13 Dated: September 23, 2025 JONES MAYER
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Denise Lynch Rocawich
15 By: /s/
JAMES R. TOUCHSTONE
16 DENISE L. ROCAWICH
Attorneys for Defendants County of San
17 Bernardino
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Dated: September 23, 2025 LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY PEACOCK
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23 By: /s/ Gregory Peacock
GREGORY PEACOCK
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs Frank Villaran,
Frank Thomas Villaran, Erica Simental,
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E.V., J.V; Marisela Simental, L.S.
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1 | FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
2
ip pe
DATED: September 23, 2025
5 United States Magistrate Judge
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-15-
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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I, [print or type full name], of
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[print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I
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have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was
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issue by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on
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____________ [Date] in the case of Frank Villaran et al. v. County of San
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Bernardino, Case No. 5:25-cv-00979-KK-DTB. I agree to comply with and to be
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bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
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acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
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punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in
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any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective
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Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this
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Order.
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I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
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for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
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Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
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termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print or
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type full name] of [print or type full address and
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telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
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this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
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Order.
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Date:
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City and State where sworn and signed:
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Printed Name:
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Signature:
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