White

Jeffrey R. Stein, San Luis Obispo, for Real Party in Interest.

Defendant and real party in interest, Robert Ortega (Ortega), served a subpoena duces tecum on petitioner, the Office of the Inspector General (Inspector General), for the production of certain documents and reports prepared by the Inspector General. The Inspector General filed a motion to quash, which was denied by the trial court. However, the court did not order the records described in the subpoena to be turned over directly to Ortega. Instead, the court ordered the Inspector General to submit the records to the court for an in camera review to determine what, if any, information contained in the records should be disclosed to Ortega. Petitioner asserts that its records are protected against all discovery and seeks a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order and grant petitioner's motion to quash. We conclude that the records in issue are confidential but not privileged, and therefore the petition should be denied.

Ortega is being prosecuted for a violation of Penal Code § 149 (assault and battery by a public officer). The allegations against Ortega are that when he was a peace…