The opinion
1 JESSE K. COX – SBN 285218
jcox@lynberg.com
2 GARROS CHAN – SBN 320561
gchan@lynberg.com
3 LYNBERG & WATKINS
A Professional Corporation
4 1100 W. Town & Country Road, Suite #1450
Orange, California 92868
5 (714) 937-1010 Telephone
(714) 937-1003 Facsimile
6
Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF ORANGE
7 and ANTHONY MAGDALENO
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – SANTA ANA
10
11 FELIX ESPINOZA, an individual and CASE NO. 8:24-cv-02120-AH-DFM
successor-in-interest to SIERRA ROSE
12 VANATTA, Assigned to: Honorable Anne Hwang
Dept. 7D
13 Plaintiff,
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
14 vs. ORDER
15 COUNTY OF ORANGE, ANTHONY DISCOVERY MATTER
MAGDALENO, an individual; and
16 DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, Second Amended Complaint Filed:
March 27, 2025
17 Defendants.
Trial Date: December 8, 2026
18
19 Defendants COUNTY OF ORANGE and ANTHONY MAGDALENO
20 (collectively, “Defendants”), by through their attorneys of record, Lynberg &
21 Watkins, P. C., and Plaintiff FELIX ESPINOZA, individually and as a successor in
22 interest to SIERRA ROSE VANATTA, by and through their attorneys of record,
23 Skapik Law Group, hereby stipulate, as follows:
24 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
25 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
26 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
27 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
1 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
2 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
3 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
4 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
5 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
6 Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
7 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
8 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
9 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
10 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
11 This action is likely to involve information which one or more of the parties
12 contend special protection from use for any purpose other than litigation in this
13 action is warranted. Defendants contend that such confidential information
14 includes video footage and/or photographs from within County of Orange jail
15 facilities containing information pertaining to third parties that are not parties to this
16 lawsuit, and/or containing images of third parties that are not parties to this lawsuit.
17 Such confidential information may also include documents that contain personal and
18 confidential information regarding individuals which information is generally
19 unavailable to the public, including peace officer and/or County employee personnel
20 records. The disclosure of this information to the public may violate these
21 individuals’ privacy rights, and its disclosure may impact the County Sheriff’s
22 Department’s operations and safety. Good cause therefore exists for designating
23 these materials as confidential for Defendants, its employees, and officials to protect
24 government interests, as well as the privacy rights of third parties not subject to this
25 litigation. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
26 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
27 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
1 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
2 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
3 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
4 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
5 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
6 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
7 2. DEFINITIONS
8 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit.
9 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
10 of information or items under this Order.
11 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
12 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
13 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
14 the Good Cause Statement.
15 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
16 support staff).
17 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
18 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
19 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
20 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
21 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
22 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
23 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
24 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
25 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
26 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
27 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
1 counsel.
2 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
3 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
4 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
5 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
6 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
7 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
8 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
9 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
10 support staffs).
11 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
12 Discovery Material in this Action.
13 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
14 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
15 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
16 and their employees and subcontractors.
17 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
18 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
19 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
20 from a Producing Party.
21 3. SCOPE
22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
23 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
24 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
25 compilations of Protected Material; (3) any testimony, conversations, or
26 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material; and
27 (4) if any information, documents, video, photographs, and/or other materials which
1 deposition, said portion of the deposition transcript shall be treated as confidential
2 material subject to this Protective Order. Protected Material shall be used solely in
3 connection with the preparation and trial of the within case, Case No. 8:24-cv-
4 02120-AH-DFM, or any related appellate proceeding, and not for any other purpose,
5 including any other litigation. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be
6 governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of
7 Protected Material at trial.
8 4. DURATION
9 Once a case proceeds to trial, unless timely objected to, all trial exhibits that
10 were designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order
11 become public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public,
12 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings
13 to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See
14 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006)
15 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery
16 from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
17 record). Any trial exhibit containing the Confidential Designation that is to be used
18 at trial shall be reproduced without the Confidential Designation during the parties’
19 pretrial disclosures. Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality
20 obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party
21 agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall
22 be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action,
23 with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
24 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
25 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
26 pursuant to applicable law.
27 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
2 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
3 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
4 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
5 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
6 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
7 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
8 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
9 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
10 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
11 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
12 Party to sanctions.
13 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
14 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
15 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
16 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this
17 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
18 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
19 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
20 produced.
21 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
22 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
23 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
24 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
25 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
26 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
27 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
2 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
3 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
4 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
5 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
6 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
7 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
8 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
9 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
10 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
11 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
12 markings in the margins).
13 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
14 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
15 deposition all protected testimony.
16 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
17 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
18 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
19 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
20 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
21 protected portion(s).
22 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
23 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
24 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
25 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
26 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
27 Order.
1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
3 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
4 Scheduling Order.
5 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
6 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. or follow the procedures for
7 informal, telephonic discovery hearings on the Court's website.
8 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
9 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
10 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
11 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
12 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
13 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
14 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
15 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
18 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
19 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
20 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
21 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
22 DISPOSITION).
23 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
24 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
25 authorized under this Order.
26 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
27 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
1 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
2 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
3 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
4 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
5 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
6 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
7 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
8 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
9 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
10 (d) the court and its personnel;
11 (e) court reporters and their staff;
12 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
13 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
14 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
15 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
16 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
18 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
19 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
20 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
22 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
23 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
24 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
25 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
26 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
27 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
1 employees of Defendants or other authorized governmental officials from having
2 access to the documents or other items if they would have had access in the normal
3 course of their job duties. Further, nothing in this order prevents a witness from
4 disclosing events or activities personal to him or her, that is, a witness can disclose
5 to others information previously given to Defendants or its employees with respect
6 to what he or she saw, heard, or otherwise sensed.
7 (k) Each person to whom disclosure of “confidential” documents is
8 made, with the exception of counsel, who are presumed to know the contents of this
9 Protective Order, shall be provided by the person furnishing him/her such material a
10 copy of this order, and shall agree that he/she understands the provisions of the
11 Protective Order. Such person also must consent to be subject to the jurisdiction of
12 the presiding court with respect to any proceeding relating to enforcement of this
13 order, including without limitation, any proceeding for contempt. Unless made on
14 the record in this litigation, counsel making the disclosure to any person described
15 above shall retain the original executed copy of said agreement until final
16 termination of this litigation.
17 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
18 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
19 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
20 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
21 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
22 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
23 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
24 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
25 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
26 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
27 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
1 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
2 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
3 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
4 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
5 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
6 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
7 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
8 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
9 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
10 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
11 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
12 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
13 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
14 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
15 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
16 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
17 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
18 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
19 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
20 confidential information, then the Party shall:
21 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
22 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
23 agreement with a Non-Party;
24 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
25 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
26 specific description of the information requested; and
27 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
2 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
3 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
4 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
5 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
6 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
7 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
8 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
9 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
11 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
12 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
13 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
14 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
15 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
16 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
17 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
18 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
19 PROTECTED MATERIAL
20 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
21 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
22 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
23 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
24 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
25 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
26 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
27 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
1 to the court.
2 12. MISCELLANEOUS
3 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
4 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
5 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
6 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
7 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
8 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
9 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
10 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
11 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
12 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
13 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
14 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
15 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
16 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
18 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
19 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
20 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
21 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
22 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
23 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
24 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
25 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
26 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
27 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
1 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
2 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
3 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
4 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
5 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
6 Section 4 (DURATION).
7 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
8 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
9 sanctions.
10 IT IS SO STIPULATED.
11 DATED: May 28, 2026 Respectfully submitted,
12 LYNBERG & WATKINS
A Professional Corporation
13
14
By: /s/ Jesse K. Cox1
15 JESSE K. COX
GARROS CHAN
16
Attorneys for Defendants
ORANGE COUNTY and ANTHONY
17
MAGDALENO
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1 Pursuant to California Central District Local Rule 5-4.3.4, all other
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signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the
1 || DATED: May 28, 2026 SKAPIK LAW GROUP
2
3
</ Eric Morri
4 MARK J. SKAPIK
GERALYN L. SKAPIK
5 BLAIR J. BEVERLY
MATTHEW T. TALKENSTEIN
6 ERIC MORRIS
Attorneys for Plaintiff
7 FELIX ESPINOZA, an individual and
8 successor-in-interest to SIERRA ROSE
VANATTA
9
10
11
12
13 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
14
15 +
16||DATED: June 1, 2026
"7 HONCGABLE DOUGLAS F. MCC CK
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
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 on [date] in the case of Felix Espinoza. v. County of Orange, et al., Case No. 8:24-
9 cv-02120-AH-DFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
10 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 any information or item that
13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the
15 jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
16 for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if
17 such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby
18 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 Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23 Date: ___________________________
24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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Printed Name: _______________________________
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27 Signature: __________________________________