RANDY LEVINE v. THE CITY OF PASADENA

1 MICHELE BEAL BAGNERIS, City Attorney State Bar No. 115423 2 mbagneris@cityofpasadena.net ARNOLD F. LEE, Chief Assistant City Attorney 3 State Bar No. 278610 aflee@cityofpasadena.net 4 AARON K. GANSER, Deputy City Attorney State Bar No. 329337 5 aganser@cityofpasadena.net 100 N. Garfield Avenue, Suite N210 6 Pasadena, CA 91101 Tel.: (626 744-4141 / Fax: (626) 744-4190 [7] 8 Attorneys for Defendants, City of Pasadena California and Officer Palacios [9] 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA [12] 13 RANDY LEVINE, ) Case No.: 2:25-cv-06247-AJR ) 14 Plaintiff, ) [PROPOSED] STIPULATED 15 ) PROTECTIVE ORDER ) v. 16 ) ) 17 THE CITY OF PASADENA ) (Assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge A. Joel Richlin) CALIFORIA; OFFICER PALACIOS; ) [18] OFFICER ALETORRE; and DOES l to ) 19 30, inclusive, ) ) 20 ) Defendants. ) [22] 23 1. GENERAL 24 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 25 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special 26 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 27 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby 28 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective 1 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections 2 on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 3 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 4 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties 5 further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated 6 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; 7 Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 8 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 9 material under seal. 10 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 11 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case and the 12 parties’ representations that discovery in this case will involve the production of 13 confidential records, police officer personnel files, materials protected by the 14 Official Information Privilege, materials protected by California law, as evidenced 15 inter alia by California Penal Code section 832.7 et seq., California Evidence Code 16 section 1040, et seq. and rights to privacy; and in order to expedite the flow of 17 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 18 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to 19 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses 20 of such material in connection with this action, to address their handling of such 21 material at the end of the litigation, and to serve the ends of justice, a protective 22 order for such information is justified in this matter. The parties shall not designate 23 any information/documents, as confidential without a good faith belief that such 24 information/documents have been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, 25 and that there is good cause or compelling reason why it should not be part of the 26 public record in this case. 27 // 28 // 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 3 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 4 designation of information or items under this Order. 5 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 7 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 8 the Good Cause Statement. 9 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 10 their support staff). 11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information 12 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 17 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 19 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 20 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 21 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 22 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 23 outside counsel. 24 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, 25 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 26 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 27 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action [28] 1 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law 2 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 9 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material from a Producing Party. [16] 17 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 19 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 20 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 21 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 22 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 24 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. [25] 26 4. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be 28 introduced that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant 1 to this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 2 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported 3 by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in 4 advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 , 5 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 6 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 7 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this 8 protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. [9] 10 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 12 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 13 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 14 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 15 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 16 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 17 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 18 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 19 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 20 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an 21 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process 22 or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 23 Designating Party to sanctions. 24 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 25 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 26 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 27 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 28 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 1 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 2 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 3 produced. 4 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 5 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 6 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 7 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 8 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 9 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 11 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 12 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 13 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 14 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 15 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 16 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 17 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 18 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 19 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 20 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 21 only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 22 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 23 appropriate markings in the margins). 24 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 25 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 26 deposition. 27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 28 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 1 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 2 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 3 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 4 shall identify the protected portion(s). 5 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 6 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 7 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 8 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 9 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 10 provisions of this Order. [11] 12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 15 Scheduling Order. 16 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 17 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must 18 strictly comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 19 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 20 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 21 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 22 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 23 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 24 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 25 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on 26 the challenge. 27 // 28 // 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that 3 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 4 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 6 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 7 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 8 DISPOSITION). 9 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 10 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 11 authorized under this Order. 12 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 13 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 14 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 16 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 17 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 18 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 19 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 20 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 21 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 22 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (d) the Court and its personnel; 25 (e) court reporters and their staff; 26 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 27 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action [28] 1 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 2 A); 3 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 4 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 5 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 6 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 7 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 8 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 9 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 10 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 11 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 12 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 13 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 14 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 15 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. [16] 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 shall 23 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 24 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 25 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 26 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy 27 of this Stipulated Protective Order; and [28] 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 2 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 4 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 5 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 6 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 7 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 8 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 9 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 10 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. [11] 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 13 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 15 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 16 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 17 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 18 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 20 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 21 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 22 confidential information, then the Party shall: 23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non24 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 25 agreement with a Non-Party; 26 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 27 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 28 specific description of the information requested; and 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 2 Non-Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 4 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 5 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 6 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 7 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject 8 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 9 Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden 10 and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material. [11] 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 14 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 15 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 16 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 17 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 18 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 19 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit 21 A. 22 23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 24 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 27 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 28 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 1 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 2 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 3 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 4 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 5 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 6 stipulated protective order submitted to the Court. [7] 8 12. MISCELLANEOUS 9 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 10 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 11 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 12 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 13 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 14 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 15 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 16 Order. 17 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 18 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material 19 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 20 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to 21 file under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied 22 by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record 23 unless otherwise instructed by the Court. [24] 25 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 26 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request 27 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material 28 to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all 1 || Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and 2 || any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether 3 || the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a 4 || written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to 5 || the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 6 || where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and 7 ||(2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 8 |}compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 9 || Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain 10 || an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 11 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 12 ||reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if 13 |}such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain 14 |/or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 15 ||in Section 4 (DURATION). [16] 17/14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 18 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 19 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 20 || sanctions. [21] 22 ||IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. [23] 24 DATED: October 10, 2025 THE BELLI LAW FIRM [25] 26 By: | 2 □ 27 MEL C. BELLI, 28 Attorneys for Plaintiff RANDY LEVINE -13- [2] DATED: October 9, 2025 MICHELE BEAL BAGNERIS 3 City Attorney ARNOLD F. LEE [4] Chief Assistant City Attorney 5 AARON K. GANSER Deputy City Attorney [6] 7 By: /s/ Aaron K. Ganser AARON K. GANSER [8] Deputy City Attorney 9 Attorneys for Defendants, City of Pasadena California and Officer Palacios [11] 12 DATED: October 09, 2025 HURRELL CANTRALL LLP [13] 14 By: /s/ Simon Mkrtychan THOMAS C. HURRELL 15 SIMON MKRTYCHAN 16 Attorneys for Defendant, Officer Alatorre (erroneously sued and served as Officer 17 Aletorre) [19] 20 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. [22] 23 DATED: 10/15/2025 _________________________________ HON. A. JOEL RICHLIN 24 United States Magistrate Judge [28] 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND [3] 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States [6] District Court for the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the [7] case of Randy Levine v. City of Pasadena, et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-06247-AJR. I [8] agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective [9] Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose [10] me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that [11] I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this [12] Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with [13] the provisions of this Order. [14] I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District [15] Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms [16] of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur [17] after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ 18 [full name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection 20 with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated 21 Protective Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ [24] 25 Printed name: _______________________________ [26] Signature: __________________________________