The opinion
1 Jeff Dominic Price JDP PC | SBN 165534
23465 Civic Center Way
2 Malibu, California 90265-5581
jdp@jdpfirm.com
3 T. 310.451.2222
4 Attorneys for the Plaintiffs
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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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C.R.A. by and through his legal guardian 1:23-cv-00672-KES-FRS
9 NATYSHJA ALVAREZ, MELCHOR DAVID
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER AND
10 ALVAREZ, as successors in interest to ORDER
decedent RAYMOND REGALADO
11 (ECF No. 143)
Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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14 FRESNO COUNTY, FRESNO COUNTY
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT et al.,
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Defendants.
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17 1. INTRODUCTION
18 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
19 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or
20 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any
21 purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
22 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
23 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
24 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the
25 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal
26 principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this
27 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local
1 Rules 140 and 141 set forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be
2 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
3 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
4 This case arose from an alleged suicide that occurred inside the Fresno County Jail and
5 involves sensitive records, including medical records, records pertaining to third parties, records
6 pertaining to jail personnel, jail policies and procedures, peace officer personnel records, and
7 coroner records. It is important to the persons involved that many of such records be kept
8 confidential.
9 2. DEFINITIONS
10 2.1 Action: this pending federal law suit.
11 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
12 information or items under this Order.
13 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is
14 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule
15 of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. [Note: any request
16 for a two-tiered, attorney-eyes-only protective order that designates certain material as “Highly
17 Confidential” will require a separate and detailed showing of need.]
18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support
19 staff).
20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it
21 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
22 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the
23 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things,
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1 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or
2 responses to discovery in this matter.
3 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to
4 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a
5 consultant in this Action.
6 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House
7 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
8 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal
9 entity not named as a Party to this action. “Non-Party” does not include the Court or its personnel;
10 instead, the Court’s established practices and rules will govern the Court and its personnel.
11 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this
12 Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this
13 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of
14 that party, and includes support staff.
15 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,
16 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
17 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery
18 Material in this Action.
19 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services
20 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and
21 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and
22 subcontractors.
23 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as
24 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
25 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a
26 Producing Party.
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1 3. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
3 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2)
4 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
5 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
6 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial judge.
7 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
8 4. DURATION
9 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until this
10 litigation is terminated. Upon termination of the litigation, the parties agree to return to the other
11 party any document produced pursuant to this order or to destroy any document produced
12 pursuant to this order along with an affidavit under penalty of perjury that no copies of such
13 records have been retained.
14 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party
16 or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to
17 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The
18 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or
19 oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
20 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within
21 the ambit of this Order.
22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are
23 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
24 unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and
25 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated
27 for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other
1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order
2 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered,
3 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
4 designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but
7 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party
8 affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to
9 each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
10 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
11 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
12 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need
13 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it
14 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the
15 material made available for inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting
16 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
17 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
18 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material
20 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the Disclosure or
23 Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected testimony.
24 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other
25 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container
26 or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion
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1 or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
2 will identify the protected portion(s).
3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to
4 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s
5 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
6 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated
7 in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
10 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution
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12 process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis
13 for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written
14 notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this
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specific paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in
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good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other
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forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In
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conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality
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20 designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the
21 designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered,
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to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next
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stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or
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establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process
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in a timely manner.
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2 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court
3 intervention, the parties shall request an informal discovery dispute conference pursuant to the
4 undersigned Magistrate Judge’s case management procedures.
5 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on the
6 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass
7 or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party
8 to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality
9 designation, all parties will continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
10 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
13 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting,
14 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to
15 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has
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1 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
2 DISPOSITION).
3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in
4 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
5 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered
6 by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any
7 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees
9 of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information
10 for this Action;
11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving
12 Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
14 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement
15 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
16 (d) the Court and its personnel;
17 (e) court reporters and their staff;
18 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom
19 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and
20 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or
22 other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
23 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom
24 disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign
25 the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential
26 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A),
27 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
1 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this
2 Stipulated Protective Order; and
3 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed
4 upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
5 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER
6 LITIGATION
7 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
8 disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party
9 must:
10 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will include a copy
11 of the subpoena or court order;
12 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the
13 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this
14 Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the
16 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena
18 or court order will not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL”
19 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has
20 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and
21 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
22 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to
23 disobey a lawful directive from another court. This provision does not apply to this Court or its
24 personnel; instead, this Court’s established practices and Rules will govern the disclosure of
25 confidential information.
26 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS
27 LITIGATION
1 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this
2 Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in
3 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order.
4 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
5 additional protections.
6 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-
7 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the
8 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party will:
9 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of
10 the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this
12 Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information
13 requested; and
14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if requested.
15 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of
16 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-
17 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely
18 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce any information in its possession or
19 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination
20 by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and
21 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
24 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective
25 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the
26 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected
27 Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the
1 terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
3 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED
4 MATERIAL
5 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
6 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
7 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This
8 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order
9 that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
10 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
11 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection,
12 the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the
13 court.
14 12. MISCELLANEOUS
15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to
16 seek its modification by the Court in the future.
17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective
18 Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
19 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no
20 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered
21 by this Protective Order.
22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. If a Party wishes to file documents with the Court which
23 contain material designated CONFIDENTIAL, that party SHALL comply with Local Rules 140
24 and 141.
25 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
26 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days of a
27 written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material
1 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format
2 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is
3 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing
4 Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
5 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
6 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
7 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
8 Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
9 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
10 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and
11 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
12 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order
13 as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
14 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal contempt
15 proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or other
16 appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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3 DATED: March 27 , 2026, MKRTCHYAN LAW
JDP.PC
4 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
5 By /s/ Jeff Dominic Price
Jeff Dominic Price, Esq.
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DATED: March 27 , 2026, PRENTICE LONG, PC
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8 /s/ Caitlin Smith 1
Caitlin Smith, Esq.
9 Attorneys for Fresno County Defendants
10 DATED: March 27 , 2026, GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI
11 /s/ Kendra Stark 2
12 Allison Becker, Esq.
Kendra Stark, Esq.
13 Attorneys for Defendant CFMG, Inc.
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1 I, Jeff Price, affirm that counsel, Caitlin Smith, gave her permission to affix her
27 electronic signature to this Stipulation with Proposed Order, on March 27 , 2026.
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full address],
5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated
6 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of
7 California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert case name and number]. I agree to
8 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand
9 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the
10 nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or
11 item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
12 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
14 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective
15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby
16 appoint __________________________ [full name] of
17 _______________________________________ [full address and telephone number] as my
18 California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to
19 enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
20 Date: ______________________________________
21 City and State where signed: _________________________________
22 Printed name: _______________________________
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Signature:
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4 ORDER
5 The Court has reviewed the Stipulated Protective Order filed by Plaintiffs Dianna Regalado,
6 C.R.A., and Melchor David Alvarez (“Plaintiffs”) and Defendants Fresno County, Fresno County
7 Sheriff Department, and California Forensic Medical Group, Inc. (“Defendants”), through their
8 counsel of record, requesting that the Court enter an Order.
9 Having considered the stipulation, and finding good cause, the Court adopts the signed
10 Stipulated Protective Order, (ECF No. 143), subject to the following:
11 Exhibit A, lines 6-7: “issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of
12 California” is hereby struck and replaced with “issued by the United States District Court for the
13 Eastern District of California.”
14 Exhibit A, lines 13-15: “I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States
15 District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this
17 action” is hereby struck and replaced with “I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United
18 States District Court for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of
19 this Stipulated Protective Order, up to and until the termination of this action.”
20 The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States District Court,
21 Eastern District of California, any documents subject to the protective order to be filed under seal
22 must be accompanied by a written request which complies with Local Rule 141 prior to sealing. The
23 party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show good cause for
24 documents attached to a non-dispositive motion or compelling reasons for documents attached to a
25 dispositive motion. Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 2009). Within
26 five (5) days of any approved document filed under seal, the party shall file a redacted copy of the
27 sealed document. The redactions shall be narrowly tailored to protect only the information that is
1 Additionally, the parties shall consider resolving any dispute arising under the protective
2 || order according to the Court’s informal discovery dispute procedure.
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A IT IS SO ORDERED. Le Zz
5 Dated: _ April 2, 2026 2 Z ZS,
FRANK J. SINGER
6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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