The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 JOUNDI WHITE CASE NO. 2:24-cv-09035-MEMF-AYP
11 Plaintiff, Hon. Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong
Crtrm. 8B (First Street Courthouse, 5th Floor)
Hon. Mag. Judge Anna Y. Park
12 v. Crtrm. 750 (Roybal Federal Bldg. 7th Floor)
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CITY OF LOS ANGELES; LOS
14 ANGELES BOARD OF POLICE DEFENDANTS’ [PROPOSED]
15 COMMISSIONERS; LOS ANGELES PROTECTIVE ORDER
POLICE DEPARTMENT; MAYOR
16 KAREN BASS; CHIEF OF POLICE
17 DOMINIC CHOI; OFFICER
GOEITTING; OFFICER REYNA;
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OFFICER OCHOA; and DOES 1-5,
19 Defendants.
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22 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
23 This civil action stems from an incident on October 27, 2023 between Plaintiff
24 and the LAPD at which time Plaintiff was arrested pursuant to two active warrants.
25 Plaintiff filed suit on October 21, 2024 and alleges various causes of action. As the
26 parties have represented that discovery in this action is likely to involve production
27 of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from
1 may be warranted, this Court enters the following Protective Order. In particular, the
2 Court previously ordered the production of the related Internal Affairs investigation
3 and unrelated Internal Affairs investigations which pertain to the two arresting
4 officers and meet a certain subject matter criteria as set forth in Dkt. 59 at pp. 9-10.
5 This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses
6 to discovery. The protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to
7 the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the
8 applicable legal principles. Further, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, this Protective
9 Order does not entitle the parties to file confidential information under seal. Rather,
10 when the parties seek permission from the court to file material under seal, the parties
11 must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5 and with any pertinent orders of the assigned
12 District Judge and Magistrate Judge.
13 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
14 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case and the parties’
15 representations that discovery in this case will involve the production of confidential
16 records, and in order to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
17 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
18 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
19 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in connection with
20 this action, to address their handling of such material at the end of the litigation, and
21 to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
22 matter. The parties shall not designate any information/documents as confidential
23 without a good faith belief that such information/documents have been maintained
24 in a confidential, non-public manner, and that there is good cause or a compelling
25 reason why it should not be part of the public record of this case. In response to Dkt.
26 59, the City of Los Angeles intends to produce the responsive Internal Affairs
27 investigations and certain unrelated investigations which are not public records and
1 1027, 1033 (9th Cir. 1990); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 612 (N.D. Cal.
2 1995) and Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 653, 660 (N.D. Cal. 1987)). (See
3 also Dkt. 59, pp. 8-9). The City also intends to produce any existing radio
4 communications. These communications will be contained on a frequency which
5 that is not limited the subject incident itself and likely includes personal and private
6 information of third parties.
7 2. DEFINITIONS
8 2.1 Action: The instant action: White v. City of Los Angeles, et. al. 24:cv-
9 09035 MEMF (AYP). .
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 protection
14 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
15 Cause Statement.
16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
17 support staff).
18 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
19 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 or
24 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
25 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
26 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
27 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
1 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
2 counsel.
3 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
4 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
5 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
6 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
7 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
8 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
9 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
10 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
11 support staffs).
12 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
13 Discovery Material in this Action.
14 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
15 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
16 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
17 and their employees and subcontractors.
18 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
19 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
20 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
21 from a Producing Party.
22 3. SCOPE
23 The protections conferred by this Order cover not only Protected Material (as
24 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected
25 Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material;
26 and (3) any deposition testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their
27 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material, other than during a court hearing or at
1 Any use of Protected Material during a court hearing or at trial shall be
2 governed by the orders of the presiding judge. This Order does not govern the use of
3 Protected Material during a court hearing or at trial. This Protective Order does not
4 preclude Defendants from filing one or more motions in limine to preclude the
5 admission of Protected Material at the time of trial. The parties shall comply with
6 L.R. 7-3 in relation to the filing of such motions.
7 4. DURATION
8 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
9 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
10 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
11 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with
12 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
13 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
14 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
15 pursuant to applicable law.
16 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
17 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
18 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
19 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
20 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
21 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
22 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
23 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
24 this Order.
25 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
26 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
27 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
1 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
2 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), that the Producing Party affix at
14 a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL
15 legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions
16 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
17 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
18 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 before
22 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
23 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants
24 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
25 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the
26 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”
27 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
1 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
2 margins).
3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies
4 on the record, before the close of the deposition as protected testimony.
5 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
6 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
7 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
8 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
9 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
10 portion(s).
11 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
12 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
13 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
14 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
15 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
16 Order.
17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
19 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
20 Scheduling Order.
21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
22 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
23 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
24 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
25 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
26 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
27 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
1 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
2 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
3 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
5 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
6 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
7 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
8 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
9 Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below.
10 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
11 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
12 authorized under this Order.
13 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
14 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
15 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
16 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
17 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
18 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
19 to disclose the information for this Action;
20 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
21 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
22 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
23 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
25 (d) the court and its personnel;
26 (e) court reporters and their staff;
27 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
1 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
2 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
3 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
4 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
5 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
6 requests that the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
7 form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any
8 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to
9 Be Bound” attached as Exhibit A, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party
10 or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to
11 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court
12 reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Protective
13 Order; and
14 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
15 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
16 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
17 OTHER LITIGATION
18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
19 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
20 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
22 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law;
23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
24 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
25 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
26 this Protective Order; and
27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
2 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
3 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
4 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission, or
5 unless otherwise required by the law or court order. The Designating Party shall bear
6 the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material
7 and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a
8 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
9 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
10 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
12 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
13 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
14 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
15 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
17 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
18 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
19 confidential information, then the Party shall:
20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
21 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
22 with a Non-Party;
23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Protective Order
24 in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description
25 of the information requested; and
26 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
27 Party, if requested.
1 called for by Local Rules 45-1 and 37-1, et seq. within 14 days of receiving the notice
2 and accompanying information or fails contemporaneously to notify the Receiving
3 Party that it has done so, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s
4 confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If an unrepresented
5 Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving
6 the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-
7 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party
8 timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information
9 in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the
10 Non-Party before a determination by the court unless otherwise required by the law
11 or court order. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the
12 burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
13 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
14 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
15 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
16 Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the
17 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve
18 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to
19 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d)
20 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to
21 Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
22 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
23 PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
26 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
27 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
1 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
2 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
3 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
4 parties may incorporate their agreement into this Protective Order.
5 12. MISCELLANEOUS
6 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
7 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
8 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. No Party waives any right it otherwise
9 would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any
10 ground not addressed in this Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right
11 to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this
12 Protective Order.
13 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
14 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5 and with any pertinent
15 orders of the assigned District Judge and Magistrate Judge. If a Party's request to file
16 Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may
17 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
18 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
19 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4, within 60 days
20 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all
21 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
22 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
23 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
24 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
25 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person
26 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by
27 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed
1 || compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
2 || Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an
3 || archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
4 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
5 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
6 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
7 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
8 || Section 4.
9 |} 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
10 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
11 || sanctions.
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13 || ITISSO ORDERED.
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15 || DATED: February 18, 2026
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7 Aare |
Honorable Anna Y. Park
18 || United States Magistrate Judge
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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 of perjury that
6 I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued by the
7 United States District Court for the Central District of California on
8 _________________________ in the case of
9 _____________________________________. I agree to comply with and to be
10 bound by all the terms of this Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that
11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of
12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information
13 or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
14 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this
18 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Protective Order.
22 Date: ______________________________________
23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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25 Printed name: _______________________________
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27 Signature: __________________________________