Lance Ian Osband v. Jeanne Woodford, Warden of the California State Prison at San Quentin

Petitioner-appellee seeks a writ of habe-as corpus in this capital case, claiming, among other things, ineffective assistance by his trial counsel. Because of petitioner’s ineffective assistance claim, the magistrate judge allowed discovery by the State of materials that would ordinarily have been subject to evidentiary privileges, including the attorney-client privilege. Over the State’s objection, the magistrate judge also entered a protective order limiting the State’s use of the materials. The district court denied the State’s motion to reconsider the magistrate judge’s order, and the State appeals that denial.

We hold that the district court’s denial of the motion to reconsider is an appeal-able collateral order. We further hold that the denial of the motion was not clear error and, accordingly, affirm the district court.

I. Background

Petitioner-appellee Lance Ian Osband was convicted of first-degree murder in a California state court and sentenced to death. The California Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, see People v. Osband, 13 Cal.4th 622 , 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 26 , 919 P.2d 640 (1996), and later denied Os-band’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. Osband then…