Opinion
CR24-094 JLR
07-29-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JESUS ORTIZ PLATA and JUAN PABLO CUELLAR MEDINA, Defendants.
CELIA A. LEE, Assistant United States Attorney
CELIA A. LEE, Assistant United States Attorney
PROTECTIVE ORDER
JAMES L. ROBART, United States District Court Judge
Upon unopposed motion of the United States, and for good cause shown, the Court ORDERS as follows pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d)(1):
1. Some of the material to be produced in discovery in this matter includes personal identifying information (PII), which is defined for purposes of this Order as Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, email addresses, account numbers, financial institution account numbers including bank account numbers, and other PII. Redacting the discovery to delete PII would unnecessarily delay the disclosure of discovery to Defendant and would frustrate the intent of the discovery process. The government agrees to label material subject to this protective order as PROTECTED MATERIAL.
2. Access to discovery material containing PII will be restricted to the Defense Team, with the limited exceptions discussed in paragraphs 3 and 4, below. “Defense Team” shall be limited to attorneys of record for the defendant and any of the following people working on this matter under the supervision of the attorneys of record: attorneys, investigators, paralegals, law clerks, testifying and consulting experts, interpreters/translators/transcriptionists, and legal assistants. For purposes of this Order, “Defense Team” does not include the defendant. Defendant's attorneys shall inform any member of the Defense Team to whom disclosure of discovery material is made of the existence and terms of this Protective Order.
3. Members of the Defense Team shall not disseminate discovery material containing PII to A person other than the Defense Team, except as discussed below in paragraph 4.
4. Defense counsel may provide discovery to the defendant, subject to the following conditions:
a. Defendant is permitted to have a single copy of the protected discovery and shall not use any discovery material, including material containing PII for any purpose other than for case preparation.
b. Defendant will maintain only a single copy of discovery containing PII, which shall not be duplicated. Defendant shall not provide copies of the material containing PII to any third parties and may only review the discovery material containing PII either alone or in the presence of the Defense Team; and
c. Within 30 days of the entry of any final judgment in this case, the defendant shall destroy or return to defense counsel all discovery material containing PII.
5. Any discovery material containing PII that the Defense Team files on the Court's public docket shall be filed consistent with Local Criminal Rule 49.1.
6. Nothing in this Order should be construed as imposing any discovery obligations on the government or the defendant that are different from those imposed by case law, Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Due Process Protection Act (DPPA) and the Local Criminal Rules.
7. This Order may be modified, as necessary, by filing with the Court a Stipulated Order Modifying the Protective order, or by order of the Court. In the event compliance with this Order makes it difficult for defense counsel to adhere to their Sixth Amendment obligations, defense counsel shall bring any concerns about the terms of the Order to the attention of the government. The parties shall then meet and confer with the intention of finding a mutually acceptable solution. In the event that the parties cannot reach such a solution, defense counsel shall bring any concerns about the scope or terms of the Order to the attention to the Court.