The opinion
1 MICHELE BEAL BAGNERIS, City Attorney
State Bar No. 115423
2 mbagneris@cityofpasadena.net
ARNOLD F. LEE, Chief Assistant City Attorney
3 State Bar No. 278610
aflee@cityofpasadena.net
4 AARON K. GANSER, Deputy City Attorney
State Bar No. 329337
5 aganser@cityofpasadena.net
100 N. Garfield Avenue, Suite N210
6 Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel.: (626 744-4141 / Fax: (626) 744-4190
7
8 Attorneys for City of Pasadena,
Alejandro Loeza, Officer Cardenas,
9 Officer Orozco, and Corporal Mulrooney
10
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
11
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
12
13
GERARDO RAMON CANO ) Case No.: 2:25-cv-05465-CBM-AGR
14 OROZCO, an individual, )
15 ) [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
Plaintiff, ) PROTECTIVE ORDER
16 )
)
17 v. )
)
18
CITY OF PASADENA; Alejandro )
19 Loeza; Officer Cardenas; Officer )
Orozco; Corporal Mulrooney; DOES 1 )
20 )
to 10, Inclusive,
)
21 )
22 Defendants. )
23
24 1. GENERAL
25 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
26 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
27 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
28 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
1 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective
2 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections
3 on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from
4 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are
5 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties
6 further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated
7 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal;
8 Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
9 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file
10 material under seal.
11 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
12 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case and the
13 parties’ representations that discovery in this case will involve the production of
14 confidential records, police officer personnel files, materials protected by the
15 Official Information Privilege, materials protected by California law, as evidenced
16 inter alia by California Penal Code section 832.7 et seq., California Evidence Code
17 section 1040, et seq. and rights to privacy; and in order to expedite the flow of
18 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
19 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to
20 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses
21 of such material in connection with this action, to address their handling of such
22 material at the end of the litigation, and to serve the ends of justice, a protective
23 order for such information is justified in this matter. The parties shall not designate
24 any information/documents, as confidential without a good faith belief that such
25 information/documents have been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner,
26 and that there is good cause or compelling reason why it should not be part of the
27 public record in this case.
28 / / /
1 Plaintiff does not concede the grounds proposed by Defendants as the basis
2 for this Protective Order, nor does Plaintiff waive the right to object to the
3 designation of confidential material or to the information withheld based on the
4 above-described code sections. However, in the interest of encouraging discovery
5 and the exchange of documents and information, Plaintiff agrees to enter this
6 Stipulated Protective Order so as to increase the flow of information in this matter.
7
8 2. DEFINITIONS
9 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
10 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
11 designation of information or items under this Order.
12 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
13 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
14 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
15 the Good Cause Statement.
16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
17 their support staff).
18 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information
19 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
20 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
24 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
25 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a
26 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to
27 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
28 / / /
1 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this
2 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
3 outside counsel.
4 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
5 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
6 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
7 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action
8 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law
9 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
10 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
12 support staffs).
13 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
14 Discovery Material in this Action.
15 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
16 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
18 and their employees and subcontractors.
19 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
22 Material from a Producing Party.
23
24 3. SCOPE
25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
26 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
27 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
28 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
1 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
2 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
3 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
4
5 4. DURATION
6 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be
7 introduced that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant
8 to this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
9 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported
10 by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in
11 advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172,
12 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing
13 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when
14 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this
15 protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
16
17 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
19 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
20 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
21 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
22 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
23 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
24 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
25 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
27 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an
28 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process
1 or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
2 Designating Party to sanctions.
3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
4 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
5 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
6 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
7 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
8 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
9 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
10 produced.
11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
13 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
14 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
15 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
16 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
17 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
18 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
20 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
21 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
22 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
23 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
24 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine
25 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
26 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix
27 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If
28 only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
1 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
2 appropriate markings in the margins).
3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
4 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
5 deposition.
6 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
7 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
8 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
9 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
10 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
11 shall identify the protected portion(s).
12 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
13 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
14 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such
15 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
16 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the
17 provisions of this Order.
18
19 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
20 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
21 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
22 Scheduling Order.
23 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
24 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must
25 strictly comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
26 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
27 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
28 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
1 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the
2 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all
3 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
4 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on
5 the challenge.
6
7 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that
9 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
10 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
11 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under
12 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
13 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
14 DISPOSITION).
15 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
16 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
17 authorized under this Order.
18 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
19 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
20 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
21 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
22 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
23 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
24 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
25 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
26 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
27 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
28 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
1 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
2 (d) the Court and its personnel;
3 (e) court reporters and their staff;
4 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
5 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action
6 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit
7 A);
8 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information
9 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
10 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
11 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
12 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
13 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
14 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
15 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
16 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
17 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
18 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
19 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
20 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
21
22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
23 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
24 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
25 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
27 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
28 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
3 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy
4 of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
6 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
8 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in
9 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
10 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
12 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
15
16 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
18 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
19 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
20 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
21 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
22 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
23 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
24 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
25 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
26 confidential information, then the Party shall:
27 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
28 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
1 agreement with a Non-Party;
2 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
3 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
4 specific description of the information requested; and
5 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
6 Non-Party, if requested.
7 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within
8 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
9 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
10 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving
11 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject
12 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
13 Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden
14 and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
15
16 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
17 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
18 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
19 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
20 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
21 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
22 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
23 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
25 A.
26 / / /
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
2 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
5 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
6 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
7 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
8 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
9 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
10 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or
11 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the
12 stipulated protective order submitted to the Court.
13
14 12. MISCELLANEOUS
15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of
16 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
18 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
20 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on
21 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
22 Order.
23 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
24 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material
25 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
26 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to
27 file under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied
28
1 by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record
2 unless otherwise instructed by the Court.
3
4 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
5 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request
6 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material
7 to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all
8 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and
9 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether
10 the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a
11 written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to
12 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category,
13 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and
14 (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
15 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
16 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain
17 an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
18 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
19 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if
20 such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain
21 or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth
22 in Section 4 (DURATION).
23 / / /
24 / / /
25 / / /
26 / / /
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 |}14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
3 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
4 || sanctions.
5 |} IT ISSO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
7 DATED: February 10, 2026 SKAPIK LAW FIRM
9 By: _/s/ Matthew T. Falkenstein □□□
Mark J. Skapik
10 Geralyn L. Skapik
Blair J. Berkley
11
Matthew T. Falkenstein
12 Attorneys for Plaintiff GERARDO RAMON
13 CANO OROZCO
14
15 || DATED: February 10, 2026 MICHELE BEAL BAGNERIS
City Attorney
16 ARNOLD F. LEE
17 Chief Assistant City Attorney
AARON K. GANSER
18 Deputy City Attorney
19
By:_/s/ Aaron K.Ganser
20 AARON K. GANSER
7] Deputy City Attorney
Attorneys for Defendants, City of Pasadena
22 Alejandro Loeza, Officer Cardenas, Officer
23 Orozco, and Corporal Mulrooney
24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
25
26 ||DATED: February 12, 2026
7 HON. ALICIA G. ROSENBERG
United States Magistrate Judge
28
-14-
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
6
District Court for the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the
7
case of Gerardo Ramon Cano Orozco v. City of Pasadena, et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-
8
05465-CBM-AJR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
9
Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so
10
comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
11
solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item
12
that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in
13
strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
15
Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms
16
of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur
17
after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________
18 [full name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection
20 with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated
21 Protective Order.
22 Date: ______________________________________
23
24 City and State where signed: _________________________________
25
26 Printed name: _______________________________
27
Signature: __________________________________
28