Wyman v. County of Orange

          DANIEL R. SULLIVAN (State Bar No. 96740) MICHAEL S. VASIN (State Bar No. 227945) SULLIVAN, BALLOG & WILLIAMS, LLP Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF ORANGE and ZACHARY VARELA

          [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE: CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS

          HONORABLE KAREN E. SCOTT United States District Court Magistrate Judge.

         Pursuant to the Provisions of Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.

         This case arises out of Plaintiff Trevor Wyman’s (“Plaintiff”) detention at the Theo Lacy Facility on August 23, 2014. Plaintiff contends that he was injured by Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies while being restrained. The County of Orange (“County”) conducted an internal investigation and, as a result, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department generated investigation reports, third-party statements, as well as other pieces of potential evidence in connection with the internal investigation. Plaintiff now seeks disclosure of, among other things, the investigative file pertaining to the August 23, 2014 incident, the personnel records of the involved deputies, and the Sheriff’s Department’s written policies and procedures.

         Disclosure and discovery activity in this action will involve production of confidential or private information involving peace officers for which special protection from public disclosure and protection from use for any purpose other than the instant litigation is warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.

         The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 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 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. Nothing contained in this Protective Order is intended or should be construed as authorizing a party in this action to disobey a lawful subpoena issued in another action.

         A. DESIGNATION AS CONFIDENTIAL:

         It is hereby stipulated that the defendants, COUNTY OF ORANGE and DEPUTY VARELA, as well as any other Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies and/or personnel later added as defendants, (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Defendants”), may designate as “CONFIDENTIAL” material the following items produced in response to discovery:

         1. Peace officer personnel files and all records that are typically contained within or associated with such personnel files according to the regular practices of the law enforcement agency which is the custodian of such records - including but not limited to internal affairs investigations and related interviews and reports, peace officer medical records in the custody of the peace officer’s law enforcement agency employer pertinent to the pending action, records regarding peace officer discipline, associated law enforcement agency employment/internal investigations and related interviews and reports, interviews and reports related to personnel complaints by peace officers and/or citizen complaints against peace officers, peace officer training records, and personal information; and documents defined and/or described in California Penal Code sections 832.5, 832.7, and 832.8;

         2. Comparable records of the parties that may otherwise be privileged from disclosure but which parties agree to produce pursuant to the terms of the parties’ Stipulation and this Protective Order, including a party’s medical records, financial records, or other privileged records, documents, or information;

         3. Documents related to any internal investigation by Defendants related to Plaintiff’s allegations; and

         4. ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT’s written policies and/or procedures.

         The production of the aforementioned materials does not waive any objections with respect to the admissibility of any of these documents at time of trial. Moreover, inclusion of materials in the foregoing list does not waive any objection(s) to their production.

         The designation of “CONFIDENTIAL” material shall be made by placing or affixing upon written transcripts/documents in a manner which is not to interfere with its legibility, the word “CONFIDENTIAL, ” to each page that contains protected material. The designation shall be made prior to, or in ...