Enriquez et al v. The City of Chula Vista et al

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
MARIA ENRIQUEZ, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA, et al.,
Defendant.
Case No.: 25-cv-3832-BTM-DEB
PROTECTIVE ORDER RE
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS
[DKT. NO. 8]
The Court recognizes that at least some of the documents and information
("materials") being sought through discovery in the above-captioned action are private,
privileged or confidential information that is not generally available to the public and
normally kept confidential by the parties.
The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the
parties may contain medical and mental health records, law enforcement records, peace
officer personnel records and other materials containing confidential sensitive information
maintained for law enforcement purposes. The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms
of this Protective Order (“Order”) in this action. The purpose of this Order is to protect the
confidentiality of such materials as much as practical during the litigation.
However, this specific Order does not restrict the publication of the following
documents and materials, which shall not be construed as Confidential Documents under
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the parties’ Stipulation and this Order: (1) Any video or audio recording, including but not
limited to body worn camera video recordings related to the April 19, 2025 officer involved
shooting (“OIS”) incident involving Carlos Enriquez (“Enriquez”) and Chula Vista Police
Department Officers (“CVPD”); and/or (2) criminal or administrative investigative records
relating to the report, investigation, or findings of the April 19, 2025 OIS critical incident
involving Enriquez and CVPD, as such is defined in California Penal Code § 832.7(b)(3).
DEFINITIONS
1. The term "confidential information" will mean and include information
contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents,
answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition
testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries,
and compilations derived therefrom that is deemed to be confidential information by any
party to which it belongs.
2. The term “materials” will include, but is not limited to: medical records,
psychotherapeutic records, and autopsy photographs; as well as peace officer personnel
records as defined by California Penal Code sections 832.8, 832.5, 832.7 and the associated
case law; and other similar confidential records designated as such.
3. The term "counsel" will mean outside counsel of record, and other attorneys,
paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the law firms identified below:
Defendants - Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
Plaintiffs – Iredale & Yoo, APC; Law Office of Steve Hoffman, APC
GENERAL RULES
4. [Designation of Confidential Documents.] Each party to this litigation that
produces or discloses any materials, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for
admission, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and
depositions, or information that the producing party believes should be subject to this
Protective Order may designate the same as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL -
FOR COUNSEL ONLY."
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a. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL": Any party may designate
information as "CONFIDENTIAL" only if, in the good faith belief of
such party and its counsel, the unrestricted disclosure of such
information could be potentially prejudicial to the business or
operations of such party.
b. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY": Any
party may designate information as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR
COUNSEL ONLY" only if, in the good faith belief of such party and
its counsel, the information is among that considered to be most
sensitive by the party, including but not limited to the items described
in paragraph 2 above.
5. In the event the producing party elects to produce materials for inspection, no
marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For
purposes of the initial inspection, all materials produced will be considered as
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY," and must be treated as such pursuant to the
terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon selection of specified materials for copying by the
inspecting party, the producing party must, within a reasonable time prior to producing
those materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies of those materials that contain
confidential information with the appropriate confidentiality marking.
6. [Depositions Involving Confidential Documents/Information.] Whenever a
deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of confidential information
of any party:
a. the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as
containing confidential information subject to the provisions of this
Order; such designation must be made on the record whenever possible,
but a party may designate portions of depositions as containing
confidential information after transcription of the proceedings; [A]
party will have until fourteen (14) days after receipt of the deposition
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transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action of the
portions of the transcript to be designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY.”
b. the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at
the deposition, during such time as the confidential information is to be
disclosed, any person other than the deponent, counsel (including their
staff and associates), the court reporter, and the person(s) agreed upon
pursuant to paragraph 8 below; and
c. the originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the
deposition must bear the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY," as appropriate, and the
original or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing must not
be filed unless it can be accomplished under seal, identified as being
subject to this Order, and protected from being opened except by order
of this Court.
7. [Restrictions on Publication & Use of Confidential Documents.] All
confidential information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL FOR
COUNSEL ONLY" must not be disclosed by the receiving party to anyone other than those
persons designated within this order and must be handled in the manner set forth below
and, in any event, must not be used for any purpose other than in connection with this
litigation, unless and until such designation is removed either by agreement of the parties,
or by order of the Court.
8. Information designated "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" must
be viewed only by counsel (as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, and by
independent experts under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph. The right of any
independent expert to receive any confidential information will be subject to the advance
approval of such expert by the producing party or by permission of the Court. The party
seeking approval of an independent expert must provide the producing party with the name
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and curriculum vitae of the proposed independent expert, and an executed copy of the form
attached hereto as Exhibit A, in advance of providing any confidential information of the
producing party to the expert. Any objection by the producing party to an independent
expert receiving confidential information must be made in writing within fourteen (14)
days following receipt of the identification of the proposed expert. Confidential
information may be disclosed to an independent expert if the fourteen (14) day period has
passed and no objection has been made. The approval of independent experts must not be
unreasonably withheld.
9. Information designated "confidential" must be viewed only by counsel (as
defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts (pursuant to the
terms of paragraph 8), by court personnel, and by the additional individuals listed below,
provided each such individual has read this Order in advance of disclosure and has agreed
in writing to be bound by its terms:
a. Executives who are required to participate in policy decisions with
reference to this action;
b. Technical personnel of the parties with whom Counsel for the parties
find it necessary to consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in
preparation for trial of this action; and
c. Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals
identified above.
10. With respect to material designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY," any person indicated on the face of the
document to be its originator, author or a recipient of a copy of the document, may be
shown the same.
11. All information which has been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" by the producing or disclosing party, and
any and all reproductions of that information, must be retained in the custody of the counsel
for the receiving party identified in paragraph 3, except that independent experts authorized
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to view such information under the terms of this Order may retain custody of copies such
as are necessary for their participation in this litigation.
12. [Sealing Requirement.] Before any materials produced in discovery, answers
to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other
documents which are designated as confidential information are filed with the Court for
any purpose, the party seeking to file such material must seek permission of the Court to
file the material under seal.
13. No party may file any document under seal, except pursuant to a court order
that authorizes the filing of the document, or portion of the document, under seal. A sealing
order will issue only upon a showing that the information is privileged or protectable under
the law. The party seeking to file under seal must limit its sealing request to the specific
portion of the document that contains the confidential or privileged material.
14. [Challenges to Confidential Document Designation.] At any stage of these
proceedings, any party may object to a designation of the materials as confidential
information. The objecting party must notify the designating party, in writing, of the
materials objected to and the ground(s) for the objection. Thereafter, lead counsel (or
attorneys with full authority to make decisions and bind the client without later seeking
approval from a supervising attorney) must promptly meet and confer, pursuant to Local
Rule 26.1.a. If the dispute is not resolved within seven (7) days of receipt of the objections,
and after counsel have thoroughly and completely met and conferred, the parties must place
a joint call to the assigned magistrate judge’s chambers to explain the dispute and the
parties’ respective positions. The materials at issue must be treated as confidential until the
Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has been otherwise resolved.
15. [Further Restrictions on Disclosure & Publication of Confidential
Documents.] All confidential information must be held in confidence by those inspecting
or receiving it, and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party,
and each person receiving confidential information must take reasonable precautions to
prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If confidential
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information is disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the
party responsible for the unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts
relating to the unauthorized disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without
prejudice to any rights and remedies of the other parties, make every effort to prevent
further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) receiving the unauthorized disclosure.
16. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of confidential
information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise
identified as such in accordance with this Order.
17. [Inadvertent Disclosures.] If a party, through inadvertence, produces any
confidential information without labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in
accordance with this Order, the designating party may give written notice to the receiving
party that the document or thing produced is deemed confidential information, and that the
document or thing produced should be treated as such in accordance with that designation
under this Order. The receiving party must treat the materials as confidential, once the
designating party so notifies the receiving party. If the receiving party has disclosed the
materials before receiving the designation, the receiving party must notify the designating
party in writing of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties will agree on a mutually
acceptable manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced materials as
"CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" - SUBJECT TO
PROTECTIVE ORDER.
18. [Preservation of Objections & Right to Advise.] Nothing within this order
will prejudice the right of any party to object to the production of any discovery material
on the grounds that the material is protected as privileged or as attorney work product.
19. Nothing in this Order will bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients
with respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information
designated as confidential information, provided that the contents of the information must
not be disclosed.
20. This Order will be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose
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production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere
presence of confidential information. The existence of this Order must not be used by either
party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
21. [Other Mandates.] Nothing within this order will be construed to prevent
disclosure of confidential information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of
the Court.
22. [Final Termination.] Upon final termination of this action, including any and
all appeals, counsel for each party must, upon request of the producing party, return all
confidential information to the party that produced the information, including any copies,
excerpts, and summaries of that information, or must destroy same at the option of the
receiving party, and must purge all such information from all machine-readable media on
which it resides. Notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for each party may retain all
pleadings, briefs, memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the Court that refer
to or incorporate confidential information, and will continue to be bound by this Order with
respect to all such retained information. Further, attorney work product materials that
contain confidential information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, the
person in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order
with respect to all such retained information.
23. [Exceptions from Protective Order.] The restrictions and obligations set forth
within this order will not apply to any information that: (a) the parties agree should not be
designated confidential information; (b) the parties agree, or the Court rules, is already
public knowledge; (c) the parties agree, or the Court rules, has become public knowledge
other than as a result of disclosure by the receiving party, its employees, or its agents in
violation of this Order; or (d) has come or will come into the receiving party's legitimate
knowledge independently of the production by the designating party. Prior knowledge must
be established by pre-production documentation.
24. The parties have already agreed that the following information shall not be
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designated confidential information: (1) Any video or audio recording, including but not
limited to body worn camera video recording(s) related to the April 19, 2025 officer
involved shooting (“OIS”) incident involving Carlos Enriquez (“Enriquez”) and Chula
Vista Police Department Officers (“CVPD”); and (2) criminal or administrative
investigative records relating to the report, investigation, or findings of the April 19, 2025
OIS critical incident between Enriquez and CVPD, as such is defined in California Penal
Code § 832.7(b)(3).
25. However, such agreement does not bar the parties from appropriately
redacting any discoverable records so as: (1) to remove personal data or information – such
as home addresses, telephone numbers, or the identities of family members, other than the
names and work-related information of peace and custodial officers; (2) to preserve the
anonymity of whistleblowers, complainants, and victims who are not witnesses to the
incident at issue; and (3) to protect confidential medical, financial, or other information of
which disclosure is specifically prohibited by federal law.
26. Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to prejudice or prevent any party from
seeking any additional protective order regarding any records or information excepted from
the scope of this Order, or otherwise.
27. The restrictions and obligations within this order will not be deemed to
prohibit discussions of any confidential information with anyone if that person already has
or obtains legitimate possession of that information.
28. [Notice.] Transmission by email or some other currently utilized method of
transmission is acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order.
29. [Modification.] This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties,
subject to approval by the Court.
//
//
//
//
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30. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause,
or in the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. The parties
prefer that the Court provide them with notice of the Court's intent to modify the Order and
the content of those modifications, prior to entry of such an order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 16, 2026
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EXHIBIT A
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
I, ____________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print
or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
understand the Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the
Southern District of California on March 16, 2026 in the case
Enriquez et al v. The City of Chula Vista et al, Case No. 25-cv-3832-BTM-DEB (S.D.
Cal.). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order and
I understand and acknowledge that failure to do so comply could expose me to sanctions
and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in
any manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person
or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for
the Southern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Protective
Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
Date: _________________________________
City and State where sworn and signed: _______________________________
Printed Name: _________________________________
Signature: _________________________________
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