Opinion
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER, United States Attorney, PATRICK R. DELAHUNTY, HENRY Z. CARBAJAL III, Assistant United States Attorneys, Fresno, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America.
MEGAN TAYLOR HOPKINS, Counsel for Defendant.
STIPULATION AND ORDER BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND VICTOR HUGO SORIANO-VILLAFAN
LAWRENCE J. O'NEILL, District Judge.
STIPULATION
WHEREAS, the discovery in this case is voluminous and contains a large amount of personal information including but not limited to insurance claims and claim files, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, telephone numbers, residential addresses, and confidential business and accounting records ("Protected Information"); and,
WHEREAS, the parties desire to avoid both the necessity of large scale redactions and the unauthorized disclosure or dissemination of Protected Information to anyone not a party to the court proceedings in this matter;
The parties agree that entry of a stipulated protective order is appropriate.
THEREFORE, defendant VICTOR HUGO SORIANO-VILLAFAN by and through his counsel of record Megan Taylor Hopkins ("Defense Counsel"), and plaintiff, the United States of America, by and through its counsel of record, hereby agree and stipulate as follows:
1. This Court may enter protective orders pursuant to Rule 16(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and its general supervisory authority.
2. This Order pertains to all discovery provided to or made available to Defense Counsel as part of the discovery in this case (hereafter, collectively known as the "discovery").
3. By signing this Stipulation and Protective Order, Defense Counsel agrees not to share or provide any documents that contain Protected Information with anyone other than Defense Counsel and designated defense investigators and support staff.
4. The parties agree that Defense Counsel, defense investigators, and support staff shall only provide the defendant with copies of documents subject to these agreements:
a) The defendant shall only be provided with copies of documents that do not contain Protected Information or copies of documents from which Protected Information has been redacted.
b) Defense Counsel may permit the defendant to view unredacted documents in the presence of his attorney, defense investigators and support staff.
c) The parties agree that Defense Counsel, defense investigators, and support staff shall not allow the defendant to copy or record Protected Information contained in the discovery.
5. The discovery and information therein may be used only in connection with the litigation of this case and for no other purpose. The discovery is now and will forever remain the property of the United States Government. Defense Counsel will return the discovery to the Government or certify that it has been destroyed at the conclusion of the case.
6. Defense Counsel will store the discovery in a secure place and will use reasonable care to ensure that it is not disclosed to third persons in violation of this agreement.
7. Defense Counsel shall be responsible for advising the defendant, employees, other members of the defense team, and defense witnesses of the contents of this Stipulation and Order.
8. In the event that the defendant substitutes counsel, undersigned Defense Counsel agrees to withhold discovery from new counsel unless and until substituted counsel agrees also to be bound by/this Order or the Court modifies this Order regarding such transfer of discovery.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
ORDER
IT IS SO ORDERED.