The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11! RYAN LEWIS, an individual, CASE NO.: 5:25-cv-02415-KK-PVCx
12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
13 V.
141 COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, a
public entity; DEPUTY ELIAS
131 MENDOZ (#31905); DEPUTY
BRANDON VENTRE (#17917); DEPUTY
16! CHESTER ARIZALA (#J2153); and
DOES 1-10, inclusive,
18 Defendants.
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PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 Defendants COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO (“County”), DEPUTY ELIAS
3 MENDOZA, DEPUTY BRANDON VENTRE, and DEPUTY CHESTER ARIZALA
(collectively “Defendants”) contends that discovery in this action (the “Action’”) is likely
involve production of confidential, proprietary or private information for which special
protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
7| this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, Defendants and Plaintiff RYAN LEWIS
8] (“Plaintiff”), with Plaintiff and Defendants collectively referred to herein as the “Parties”
individually as the “Party,” hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
10] following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not
11|;confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the
12\protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
13||information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal
14] principles.
GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
16 This Action involves records of detention and investigations performed by the
17||County of San Bernardino and its personnel, agents, and employees, and/or other third
parties contracted with the County. Defendants assert that the underlying incident, and
19| evidence thereof, may involve the identity of personnel, third-party witnesses, and others,
that is private or confidential in nature. Further, Defendants anticipate that Plaintiff will
21||seek confidential documents in this matter which may include, but are not limited to,
22|\personnel records of law enforcement officers, employment records, and confidential
information from the County of San Bernardino Sheriff's Department (including potential
24| information implicating privacy of third parties) not generally available to the public, or
25||which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal
26|| statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Should this information (photos,
27|| videos, personnel records, private information of witnesses, etc.) be disclosed without the
28] protection of this Protective Order, and open access to the information be allowed, the
1] privacy and safety of those involved in this Action, and other law enforcement matters,
2||could be placed at risk.
3 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, facilitate the prompt resolution
4| of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, adequately protect information the
Parties are entitled to keep confidential, ensure the Parties are permitted reasonable and
6|| necessary uses of such material in preparation for trial and address their handling at the
7| end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information
justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be
9| designated as “confidential” for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without
good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
11||there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record in this Action.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
13 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under
15|seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
16|| standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material
17|/under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial
18|| proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good
cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana vy. City and County o
20| Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d
21] 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576,
(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and
specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support
24| and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks
file under seal. The Parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as
26)CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the submission of competent evidence by
declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. Further, if a
1|| party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then compelling reasons, not
2||only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly
tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors
4||Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information,
5|}document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking
protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal
justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the
8 | application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. Any document
that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its entirety will not be filed
10| under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then
redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or
12] otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks
file documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why
14] redaction is not feasible
DEFINITIONS
16 4.1 Action. This pending federal lawsuit entitled RYAN LEWIS v. COUNTY
17] OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al. case number 5:25-cv-02415-KK-PVC.
18 4.2 Challenging Party. A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
19] information or items under this Protective Order.
20 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Information (regardless of how
was or is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
22\under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement above.
23 4.4 Counsel. Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel, as these terms are
24| defined below (as well as their support staff).
25 4.5 Designating Party. A Party or Non-Party that designates information or
26|items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
27 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material. All items or information, regardless of
medium or manner in which they are generated, stored, or maintained (including,
1}among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or
2|| generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
3 4.7 Expert. A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an
expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
6 4.8 House Counsel. Attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action.
House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
8 4.9 Non-Party. Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
9} other legal entity not named as a Party to this Action.
10 4.10 Qutside Counsel of Record. Attorneys who are not employees of a Party to
11} this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party to this Action and have appeared
this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared
behalf of that Party, and include support staff.
14 4.11 Party. Any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
15|/employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
16|| support staff).
17 4.12 Producing Party. A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
Discovery Material in this Action.
19 4.13 Professional Vendors. Persons or entities that produce litigation support
20||services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and
22| their employees and subcontractors.
23 4.14 Protected Material. Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
25 4.15 Receiving Party. A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
from a Producing Party.
2715. SCOPE
28 The protections conferred by this Protective Order cover not only Protected
1||Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
2||Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their
4| Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
5 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial
6||judge. This Protective Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
DURATION
8 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as CONFIDENTIAL
maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial
10||becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public,
11\)including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to
12|| proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447
13|F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced
discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part
court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
16||commencement of the trial.
DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each
19|'Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
Protective 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, items, or
24||communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within
ambit of this Protective Order.
26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that
27| are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g.,
unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary
1||expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
2 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
3||designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
4| promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this
6|| Protective Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 7.2(a) below), or as otherwise
7| stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under
Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
produced.
10 Designation in conformity with this Protective Order requires:
11 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the
Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
14|“CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party
must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
the margins).
18 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need
designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which
20||documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the
21|designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
22|“CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants
23||copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions
24| thereof, qualify for protection under this Protective Order. Then, before producing the
specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to
26|/each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material
a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party must clearly identify the protected
28 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the
2|| Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition, all
protected testimony or deposition exhibits that contain CONFIDENTIAL Information or
4||Items. The court reporter shall then affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page of
5||the transcript or deposition exhibit that contains Protected Material and may separately
6| bound such designated transcript pages and deposition exhibits.
7 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary, and for any
8] other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior
the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
10] “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection,
11||the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
12 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure
designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
14] Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Protective Order for such
15|'material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions
17| of this Protective Order.
CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
19 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation
20] of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s orders.
21 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution
22|| process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
23 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint
24] stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
25 8.4 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
26|/be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
27| purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties),
28 || may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
1] or withdrawn the CONFIDENTIAL designation, all Parties shall continue to afford the
2||material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
6| disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action
only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected
8|| Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions
described in this Protective Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
10] Party must comply with the provisions of Section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location
in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited only to the persons authorized
under this Protective Order.
14 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
15| ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party
16||may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
17 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as
18|/employees of the Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
19] 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 Protective Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
23||disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
“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 Vendors
whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
2 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
4 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action
5||to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that
6|| the witness and attorneys for the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to
7| Be Bound” form (Exhibit A); and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential
information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
9| (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party, or ordered by the Court.
10] Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and shall not be disclosed to
anyone except as permitted under this Protective Order; and
13 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually
14| agreed upon by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions.
15]}10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
16 OTHER LITIGATION
17 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that
18|}compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
19] “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
20 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
21||include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
22 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
23||1ssue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or
24] order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this
25] Protective Order; and
26 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
27| the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
28 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
1||subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this Action as
2| “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
3}/order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s written permission.
4| The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that
5}}court of its CONFIDENTIAL Information or Items, and nothing in these provisions
should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to
7| disobey a lawful directive from another court.
A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED
9 IN THIS LITIGATION
10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
11] Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced
Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief
13|| provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a
Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
15 (b) Inthe event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
17||agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information,
then the Party shall:
19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that
20|/some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a
21|| Non-Party;
22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
23||Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
24|| specific description of the information requested; and
25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
26} Party, if requested.
27 (c) Ifthe Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
28||days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
1|| produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If
2||the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any
3||information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement
4| with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the
5|contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this
6| court of its Protected Material.
7/12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
9|Protected Material to any person or in any circumstances not authorized under this
Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the
11] Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all
unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom
13]/unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Protective Order, and (d)
14||request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
15] Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
16/13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
17 PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 When a Producing Party gives notice to the Receiving Parties that certain
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protections, the
20] obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5)(B). This
21||provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-
discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to
23|| Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (ce), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on the
24| effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client
25| privilege or work product protection, the Parties may incorporate their agreement in this
26} Protective Order or another stipulated protective order.
27/14. MISCELLANEOUS
28 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Protective Order abridges the right
1] of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
2 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
3 || Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing
producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Protective
Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to the use in evidence
of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
7 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed
9]under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected
10|| Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by
Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
12| otherwise instructed by the Court.
FINAL DISPOSITION
14 After the final deposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4 above, each
15| Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such
material within 30 days. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all
17|| copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing
of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed,
the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not
20||the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1)
21||identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
22| destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
23||compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
24| Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain archival
25\\copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal
26|| memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain
subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
2/16. VIOLATION
3 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
4||measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPUATION, IT IS SO
ORDERED.
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Dated: April 2, 2026
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12 —_-__ EE
HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO
13! United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
, [print or type full
name], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand
6||the Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central
7|| District of California on date [date] in the Action of RYAN LEWIS v.
8| COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, et al. case number 5:25-cy-02415-KK-PVC. I
9|agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I
10|/understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any
12|}manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or
13|/entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Protective Order. I further
14|,agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central
15] District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Protective Order, even
such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this Action.
17 I hereby appoint as my California
agent for service of process in connection with this Action or any proceedings related to
19] enforcement of this Protective Order.
20
21] Date:
22|| City and State where sworn and signed:
23 Printed name:
24] Signature:
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0g
_BEXPIRIT A _