Burt v. Ramos
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Valerie E. Torres (author)
Analysis
The court considered Plaintiff's motion to quash a subpoena served on U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seeking records related to Plaintiff. The court denied the motion to quash but limited the scope of the subpoena to records relating to arrests or detentions and ordered the production of such records under a protective order.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Plaintiff's Motion to Quash is DENIED.“Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is DENIED.” | agree with court The court correctly applied the standard for discovery disputes, balancing relevance against burden and privacy. It found the core records (arrest/detention) relevant to damages but the subpoena overbroad as written. By denying the motion to quash entirely but issuing specific limiting orders, the court effectively granted the relief requested in the alternative (limitation of scope) while rejecting the absolute quashal. This is a standard and appropriate procedural mechanism for resolving overbroad subpoenas. |
The scope of the Subpoena is LIMITED to records relating to any arrest or detention of Plaintiff by CBP.“The scope of the Subpoena is LIMITED to records, including any body-worn camera footage and incident reports, relating to any arrest or detention of Plaintiff by CBP occurring between December 18, 2017 to the present.” | agree with court The court found that the subpoena as written was overbroad because it sought 'any and all records' including border crossing records, for which the County failed to articulate relevance. Limiting the scope to arrests/detentions aligns with the court's finding that these specific records are relevant to damages (emotional distress) while excluding irrelevant material. This is a correct application of Rule 26(b)(1) proportionality and relevance requirements. |
The County shall mark any records produced as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the Protective Order.“The County shall mark any records or materials produced by CBP in response to the Subpoena as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the Protective Order.” | agree with court The court addressed Plaintiff's privacy concerns by relying on the existing Protective Order. This is a standard and appropriate remedy for privacy interests in discovery, ensuring that sensitive information is not publicly disclosed. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly identifies the legal standard for discovery disputes (relevance and proportionality), applies binding Ninth Circuit precedent to establish the relevance of prior police encounters to damages, and addresses the overbreadth issue by narrowing the scope rather than quashing the subpoena entirely. The use of a protective order to address privacy concerns is appropriate. The reasoning is concise but sufficient for a discovery dispute resolved on the record.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMEL BURT, Case No.: 3:24-cv-00662-CAB-VET 12 Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S 13 v. ORAL MOTION TO QUASH 14 NICOLAI RAMOS, in his individual capacity, and COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, [Doc. No. 25] 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Oral Motion to Quash Defendant County of San 19 Diego’s (“County”) subpoena served on U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”). Doc. 20 No. 25 (“Motion to Quash”). 21 On January 10, 2025, the County served a subpoena on CBP seeking any records 22 that include, but are not limited to, body-worn camera footage, incident reports, and phone 23 calls relating to Plaintiff and dated December 18, 2017 to present (the “Subpoena”). On 24 February 10, 2025, the parties jointly contacted the Court and raised a discovery dispute 25 concerning the Subpoena. Plaintiff objects and requests that the Court quash the Subpoena, 26 arguing the records sought are not relevant and the Subpoena is overbroad. The County 27 argues that such records, including some related to one arrest incident involving CBP and 28 Plaintiff, are relevant since this case also involves an incident where Plaintiff was arrested. 1 The Court held a Discovery Conference on February 11, 2025 and heard argument 2 from the parties regarding the dispute. See Doc. No. 24. As stated on the record during the 3 Discovery Conference, the Court finds that records related to any prior arrests or detentions 4 by CBP are relevant to the issue of damages, including emotional distress damages. See 5 Peraza v. Delameter, 722 F.2d 1455, 1457 (9th Cir. 1984) (subsequent encounters with 6 police were relevant to damages in excessive force case); Settrini v. City of San Diego, No. 7 3:20-cv-02273-RBM-BGS, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150796, at *9–10 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 25, 8 2023) (arrest history was relevant to claim for damages due to emotional distress). 9 Moreover, Plaintiff’s privacy interests in CBP records can be adequately protected by the 10 Protective Order in this case. See Doc. No. 10. However, as currently worded, the Court 11 further finds that the Subpoena is overbroad to the extent it seeks “any and all records” 12 relating to Plaintiff and thus captures documents such as border crossing records. The 13 County did not articulate, to the Court’s satisfaction, any basis for why border crossing 14 records or any records beyond those relating to arrests/detentions are relevant to the parties’ 15 claims or defenses. 16 Accordingly, based on the argument of the parties, and for the reasons stated on the 17 record during the Discovery Conference, Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is DENIED. The 18 Court ORDERS the following: 19 1. The scope of the Subpoena is LIMITED to records, including any body-worn 20 camera footage and incident reports, relating to any arrest or detention of Plaintiff by 21 CBP occurring between December 18, 2017 to the present. 22 2. The County shall mark any records or materials produced by CBP in response 23 to the Subpoena as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the Protective Order. See Doc. 24 No. 10. 25 3. Within five calendar days of receipt, the County shall SERVE Plaintiff with 26 a copy of any records or materials produced by CBP in response to the Subpoena. 27 28 1 IT IS SO ORDERED. (rr Sh 3 Dated: February 11, 2025 4 Honorable Va lerie E. Torres United States Magistrate Judge 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28