Tentative ruling issued by Judge John S. Meyer on Feb. 06, 2020 in San Diego County, CA - Case no: xxxxxCTL

Defendant City of San Diego brings this motion for a protective order, seeking an order "to preclude Plaintiff San Diegan for Open Government (SDOG) and its counsel, Cory Briggs, from using the deposition testimony, including any videotape thereof, of two City employees, Gerard Braun and William Gersten, for any purpose other than in connection with this lawsuit, including but not limited to, Mr. Briggs' political campaign for San Diego City Attorney, and (2) to preclude the disclosure or dissemination of the subject deposition testimony, including any videotape thereof, to any third parties not affiliated with this litigation." [Notice of Motion]

As an initial matter, the City objects in its reply to the fact that the deposition transcripts that are the subject of this motion were filed with plaintiff's opposition, as opposed to being lodged. The reply papers imply that Attorney Briggs did this for nefarious reasons. However, the opposition was filed by co-counsel, Attor….....