Bryant
Bryant v. City of Berkeley
Opinion
trial_court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
VINCENT BRYANT, Case No. 21-cv-08169-AGT
Plaintiff,
DISCOVERY ORDER
v. Re: Dkt. No. 56 CITY OF BERKELEY, et al., Defendants.
This order resolves the parties’ pending discovery dispute for discovery in the form of personnel records and Internal Affairs (IA) complaints for the involved officers. See Dkt. 56. Defendants contend that the requested written discovery is privileged. The Court grants plaintiff’s motion to compel production of written discovery from the City of Berkeley. Plaintiff alleges state and federal claims, including a federal civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourth Amendment. Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, “[t]he common law--as interpreted by United States courts in the light of reason and experience--governs a claim of privilege,” and “state law governs privilege regarding a claim or defense for which state law supplies the rule of decision.” Fed. R. Evid. 501. Federal law governs “[t]he scope of an evidentiary privilege” in a federal civil rights action. Breed v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for N. Dist. of California, 542 F.2d 1114, 1115 (9th Cir. 1976) (citing…