The opinion
1 | HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney (SBN 106866)
DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney (SBN 191992)
2 || KATHLEEN KENEALY, Chief Assistant City Attorney (SBN 212289)
CHRISTIAN R. BOJORQUEZ, Deputy City Attorney (SBN 192872)
3 ||SHANT G. TASLAKIAN, Deputy City Attorney (SBN 272485)
4 200 North Main Street, 6th Floor, City Hall East
Los Angeles, California 90012
5 Phone No.: (213) 978- 8722 | Fax No.: (213) 978-8785
Email: Shant.Taslakian@lacity.org
6
4 Attorneys for Defendant, CITY OF LOS ANGELES
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 ||] EUTIMIO REYES, CASE NO. 2:25-CV-08921A B-(MARx)
Hon. Andre Birotte — Ctrm. 7B, First St Federal
12 courte
= 3s on. Margo Rocconi— Ctrm.790, Edward R.
13 Plaintiff, Roybal Courthouse
14 V.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
15 || CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a public ORDER
entity; DOES 1 through 10, Inclusive,
16
Defendants.
17
18
19 |}1. INTRODUCTION
20 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
Z| Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
22 || proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
23 || disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
24 ||be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
25 |lenter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
26 || Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
27 || discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
28 || only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
| || under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
2 |lin Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
3 || file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
4 || procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
5 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
7 This action involves the City of Los Angeles and members of the Los Angeles
8 Police Department. Plaintiff is seeking materials and information that Defendants the
9 || City of Los Angeles et al. (“City”) maintains as confidential, such as personnel files of
10 ||the police officers involved in this incident, Internal Affairs materials and information,
11 || video recordings (including Body-Worn Video recordings and Digital In-Car Video
12 ||recordings), audio recordings, and information and other administrative materials and
13 ||information currently in the possession of the City and which the City believes need
14 ||special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
15 || prosecuting this litigation. Plaintiff is also seeking official information contained in the
16 personnel files of the police officers involved in the subject incident, which the City
17 maintains as strictly confidential and which the City believes need special protection
18 ||from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this
19 |} litigation.
20 The City asserts that the confidentiality of the materials and information sought
21 ||by Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law, as evidenced inter alia by
22 || California Penal Code section 832.7 and Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal.,
23 |1511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir. 1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394 (1976). The City has not publicly
24 released the materials and information referenced above except under protective order
25 ||or pursuant to a court order, if at all. These materials and information are of the type
26 ||that has been used to initiate disciplinary action against Los Angeles Police Department
27 ||(“LAPD”) officers, and has been used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings, where
28
1 ||the officers’ conduct was considered to be contrary to LAPD policy. The City contends
2 absent a protective order delineating the responsibilities
3 ||of nondisclosure on the part of the parties hereto, there is a specific risk of unnecessary
4 ||and undue disclosure by one or more of the many attorneys, secretaries, law clerks,
5 || paralegals and expert witnesses involved in this case, as well as the corollary risk of
6 ||embarrassment, harassment and professional and legal harm on the part of the LAPD
7 || officers referenced in the materials and information.
8 The City also contends that the unfettered disclosure of the materials and
9 ||information, absent a protective order, would allow the media to share this information
10 || with potential jurors in the area, impacting the rights of the City herein to receive a fair
11 ||trial. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
12 |/resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
13 ||information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are
14 || permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the
15 ||conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends
16 justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the
17 |lintent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical
18 ||reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been
19 || maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should
20 be part of the public record of this case.
21
22 ||2. DEFINITIONS
23 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, EUTIMIO REYES v. CITY OF LOS
24 || ANGELES, 25-CV-08921AB-(MARx).
25 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
26 || designation of information or items under this Order.
27 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
28 || how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
1 || protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
2 Good Cause Statement.
3 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
4 ||their support staff).
5 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
6 || items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
7 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
8 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
9 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
10 ||among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
11 || generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
12 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
13 || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
14 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
15 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
16 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
17 || counsel.
18 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
19 || other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
20 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
21 || party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
22 ||have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
23 || which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
24 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
25 ||employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
26 || support staffs).
97 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
28 ||Discovery Material in this Action.
l 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
g || Material from a Producing Party.
9
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.
16 || Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
17 ||trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
18
19 DURATION
20 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
21 ||imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise
22 |lin writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be the
93 ||later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without
24 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all
25 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits
26 || for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
97
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1 | DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
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 under
4 ||this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
5 || qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
6 || protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
7 ||communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or
g ||communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
9 || within the ambit of this Order.
10 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
11 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
12 || purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
13 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
14 || Party to sanctions.
15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
19 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
21 || under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
22 || produced.
23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
26 || proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
27 ||“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
2g contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
1 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
2 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
4 ||need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
5 || which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
6 || before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be
7 ||deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it
g || wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
9 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
10 || before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
11 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
12 || portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
13 ||Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
14 || markings in the margins).
15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
16 ||the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the □
17 || deposition all protected testimony.
18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
19 || for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
20 || the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
21 || legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
22 || warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the
23 || protected portion(s).
24 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
25 || failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
26 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
27 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
2g efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
1 || Order.
2
3 16. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
4 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
5 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
6 || Scheduling Order.
7 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
8 ||resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
9 6.3. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
10 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 will
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.
17
18 ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
19 7.1. Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
20 || disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
21 || Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
22 || Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
23 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
24 ||Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
25 || DISPOSITION).
26 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
97 || location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
2g || authorized under this Order.
1 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
2 || otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
3 ||Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
4 ||“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 a
19 || custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
20 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
91 || Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
22 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
23 || 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 except
28 ||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.
3
4||8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
5 || OTHER LITIGATION
6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
7 ||that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
10 || will include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
12 ||to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
13 ||subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include
14 ||a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
16 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
18 ||the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
19 ||action 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 will bear the burden and expense of seeking
22 || protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
73 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
24 ||to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
25
26 \|9. |. ANON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
27 || PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
28 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
10
1 ||Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
2 || produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
3 ||remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
4 ||construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
5 (b) Inthe event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
6 || produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
7 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
8 confidential information, then the Party will:
9 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
10 ||that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
1] agreement with a Non-Party;
12 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
13 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
14 || specific description of the information requested; and
15 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
16 || Non-Party, if requested.
17 (c) Ifthe Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
18 || 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
19 ||may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
20 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
21 ||not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
22 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
93 || Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
24 || expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
26 ||10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
97 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
2g ||Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
11
1 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
2 || writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
3 ||to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
4 || persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
5 (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
6 || Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
7
g INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
9 || PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
11 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
12 || the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
13 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
14 || procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
15 || without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d)
16 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
17 ||communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
18 || product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
19 || protective order submitted to the court.
20
21 |}12. MISCELLANEOUS
39 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
23 || person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
24 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
25 || Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
26 || disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
97 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
28 || ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
12
l 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
2 ||Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
3 ||only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
4 || specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
5 || under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
6 the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
7
g FINAL DISPOSITION
9 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
10 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
11 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
12 ||this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
13 ||summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
14 ||Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
15 ||Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
16 || person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
17 ||(by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
18 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
19 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
20 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
21 ||retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
22 ||transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
93 ||reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
74 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
25 ||constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
26 Section 4 (DURATION).
27
2g Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
13
] ||contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
2 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
3
4 IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH CO OF RECOR
5
6 DATED: | [15/22 & Cs □
7 Attorneys for Plaintiff
DATED: __0).20.2026___ __ haat Sastabion
Shant G. Taslakian, Deputy City Attorney
10 Attorneys for Defendant
11 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
12
13 DATED: _3/24/26 SPX
14 HONORABLE MARG* A. ROCCONI
15 United States Magistrate Judge
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I EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 Li [print or type full name], of
5 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
6 ||that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
7 || was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
8 jjon [date] in the case EUTIMIO REYES v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES,
9 ||25-CV-08921AB-(MARx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of
10 ||this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so
11 ||comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
12 ||solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
13 ||any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
14 || person or entity except in strict 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 ||Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print
19 type full name] of [print or type
0 || full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
21 ||connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
22 || Stipulated Protective Order.
23 || Date:
24 and State where signed:
23
96 \|Printedname: □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
27 ||Signature;
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