State Compensation Insurance Fund v. Superior Court

Statement of Facts

On March 19, 2001, the Los Angeles County District Attorney applied to the Los Angeles County Superior Court for a search warrant authorizing the district attorney to conduct a search of the offices of the State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) for “all documents pertaining to the Workers’ Compensation claim filed by Larry Nign against his employer, Race-Craft.” The application was supported by a sealed affidavit. The trial court issued the search warrant specifically authorizing a search for reports, memoranda, notes, letters, and correspondence generated to and from the State Fund legal files regarding Larry Nign’s claim as well as a search of the offices occupied by State Fund’s in-house lawyers.

On March 22, 2001, the search warrant was executed and a special master accompanied the executing officers to monitor the search as required by Penal Code section 1524, subdivision (c). The search resulted in the seizure of five boxes of documents, all of which were sealed by the special master at the direction of State Fund. State Fund filed a notice of motion for an in camera hearing to review the sealed files to identify the seized documents…