The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – CENTRAL DISTRICT
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11 LA CARL DOW and TYLER ) Case No.: 5:25-cv-03548-MCS (AGRx)
SPEARS, )
12 )
Plaintiffs, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
13 )
v. )
14 ) Action Filed: November 14, 2025
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE; ) Pretrial Conference: XXX
15 RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF’S )
Trial Date: XXX
DEPARTMENT; SHERIFF CHAD )
16 BIANO, in his individual and official )
capacities; DEPUTY DOES 1 ) Assigned to:
17 THROUGH 10; and NURSE DOES ) Honorable Mark C. Scarsi
11 through 15. ) Courtroom 7C
18 )
Defendant(s). )
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1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
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proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
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disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be
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warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
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following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this file
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confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures
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that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks
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permission from the court to file material under seal Order does not confer blanket
1 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it
2 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items
3 that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The
4 parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated
5 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal;
6 Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
7 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file
8 material under seal.
9 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
10 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case and the parties'
11 representations that discovery in this case will involve the production of confidential
12 records (including but not limited to employment/personnel records and information of
13 individually named Defendants and/or other employees of the County). In addition,
14 Defendants anticipate conducting discovery as to any potential criminal history of
15 Plaintiff and law enforcement interactions, which may include disclosure of sealed ,
16 confidential or otherwise sensitive information. In order to expedite the flow of
17 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
18 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
19 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such
20 material in connection with this action, to address their handling of such material at the
21 end of the litigation, and to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
22 information is justified in this matter. The parties shall not designate any
23 information/documents as confidential without a good faith belief that such
24 information/documents have been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
25 that there is good cause or a compelling reason why it should not be part of the public
26 record of this case.
27 2. DEFINITIONS
28 2.1 Action: La Carl Dow and Tyler Spears v. County of Riverside, et al.,
USDC Case Number 5:25-cv-03548-MCS (AGRx).
1 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
2 information or items under this Order.
3 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how
4 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
5 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause
6 Statement.
7 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
8 support staff).
9 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
10 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
11 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
12 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
13 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
14 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
15 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
16 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
17 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an
18 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
19 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
20 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
21 counsel.
22 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
23 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
24 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
25 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
26 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has
27 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
28 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
1 support staffs).
2 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
3 Discovery Material in this Action.
4 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
5 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
6 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and
7 their employees and subcontractors.
8 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
9 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
10 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
11 from a Producing Party.
12 3. SCOPE
13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
14 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
15 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations
16 of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by
17 Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
18 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial
19 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
20 4. DURATION
21 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
22 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
23 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
24 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made
25 to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,
26 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th 8 Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for
27 sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when
28 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this
protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
1 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
2 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
3 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
4 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or
5 without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion
6 of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time
7 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable
8 law.
9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each
11 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order
12 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under
13 the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for items, or
14 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
15 within the ambit of this Order.
16 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 (e.g.,
18 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary
19 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 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 this
24 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or
25 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order
26 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
27 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
28 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
2 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
3 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 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need
7 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which
8 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the
9 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
10 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the protection only those
11 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify
12 so that other portions of the material, documents, documents it wants copied and
13 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,
14 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents
15 the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains
16 Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
17 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
18 by making appropriate markings in the margins).
19 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
20 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
21 deposition all protected testimony.
22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
23 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
24 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
26 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
27 portion(s).
28 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure
to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
1 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon
2 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
3 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
4 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
5 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
6 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
7 Scheduling Order.
8 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
9 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
10 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
11 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
12 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
13 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or
14 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
15 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
16 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
17 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
19 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action
20 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected
21 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions
22 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party
23 must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
24 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
25 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
26 authorized under this Order.
27 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
28 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:
1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
2 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
3 to disclose the information for this Action;
4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
5 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (d) the court and its personnel;
10 (e) court reporters and their staff;
11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
13 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
18 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will not
19 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
21 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
22 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
23 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except s
24 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
26 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
27 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
28 OTHER LITIGATION
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that
1 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
2 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
3 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
4 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
5 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
6 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
7 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a
8 copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
9 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
10 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
11 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
12 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
13 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
14 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
15 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
16 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
17 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive
18 from another court.
19 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED
20 IN THIS LITIGATION
21 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
22 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
23 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
24 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
25 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
26 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
27 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
28 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
confidential information, then the Party shall:
1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
3 agreement with a Non-Party;
4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
5 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
6 specific description of the information requested; and
7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
8 Non-Party, if requested.
9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
10 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
11 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If
12 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any
13 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
14 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court
15 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
16 protection in this court of its Protected Material.
17 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
19 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
20 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
21 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to
22 retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
23 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and
24 (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
25 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
26 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
27 PROTECTED MATERIAL
28 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the
1 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
2 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be
3 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
4 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
5 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information
6 covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may
7 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
8 12. MISCELLANEOUS
9 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
10 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
11 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
12 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
13 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
14 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground
15 to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
16 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
17 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
18 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
19 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under
20 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the
21 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
23 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
24 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all
25 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
26 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
27 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
28 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or
1 || entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by categorn
2 || where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2
3 ||affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
4 ||compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
5 || Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an
6 || archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts,
7 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorne
8 || work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain
9 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected
10 || Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION
11 |{14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
12 ||measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
13 || sanctions.
14 || IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
15 || DATED: _ February 5, 2026
16 /s/ ROYAL DL BOND
17 || Attorneys for Plaintiff(s)
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19 || DATED: _ February 5, 2026
20 /s/ MOLSHREE GUPTA
21 || Attorneys for Defendant(s)
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23 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
24 || DATED: February 5, 2026
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27 ||Honorable AliciaG. Rosenberg”
38 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, [print or type full name], of
4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on
7 [date] in the case of La Carl Dow and Tyler Spears v. County of Riverside, et al.,
8 USDC Case Number 5:25-cv-03548-MCS (AGRx). I agree to comply with and to be
9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in
11 the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or
13 entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to
14 submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of
15 California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order,
16 even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I
17 hereby appoint [print or type full name] of
18 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my
19 California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any
20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
21 Date:
22 City and State where sworn and signed:
23 Printed name:
24 Signature:
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