IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE


AEG LIVE, etc. et al,

Petitioners,

v.

THE SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS
ANGELES COUNTY,

Respondent;

MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON, JR.,
Minors, etc., et al.,

Real Parties in Interest.

No. B247338

(Super. Ct. No. BC445597)

(Yvette Palazuelos, Judge)

ORDER RE: SEALED DOCUMENTS



Petitioners, AEG Live, LLC, AEG Live Productions, LLC, Brandon Phillips and
Paul Gongaware, have filed exhibits which were ordered sealed by the respondent court
on February 27, 2013. As the exhibits were filed under seal in the respondent court, they
must be filed under seal, at least initially, here. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.46(c)(1).
1
)
The court has reviewed the documents which were filed under seal in the respondent
court. At present, except potentially for the e-mail addresses, there appears to be an
insufficient justification for sealing any of the sealed papers. (See NBC Subsidiary

1

California Rules of Court, rule 8.46(c)(1) states: If a record sealed by the trial
court is part of the record on appeal: [] (1) The sealed record must be filed under seal in
the reviewing court and remain sealed unless that court orders otherwise under (f). All
future references to a rule are to the California Rules of Court.
COURT OF APPEAL SECOND DIST.
JOSEPH A. LANE, Clerk
Deputy Clerk
Oct 12, 2011
Mar 11, 2013
dpotter

2
(KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1178, 1217-1218; Huffy Corp. v.
Superior Court (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 97, 104-110; Universal City Studios, Inc. v.
Superior Court (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 1273, 1279-1287.) Also the respondent courts
sealing order fails to comply with rule 2.550(d).
2

As permitted by rule 8.46(f)(3)
3
, the court may order the presently sealed
documents unsealed. Out of an abundance of caution, the court will permit any party to
file papers on the question of whether to unseal the documents or, in the alternative,
return any of them to defense counsel. (See Huffy Corp. v. Superior Court, supra, 112
Cal.App.4th at p. 110.) Any justification to maintain any document in a sealed fashion
must be justified under oath and designate the matters to be sealed by line and page
number. The declarations must identify under oath and by page and line number matters
which were not subject to testimony in the criminal trial involving Dr. Conrad Murray.
These matters were the subject of world-wide television audience and extensive
international press coverage. The papers seeking to justify keeping the presently sealed
matters under seal may be filed under seal. But the court reserves the right to order them
unsealed in whole or in part. Because of the imminent trial date, the time to file
responses to this order wants shortening. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.46(f)(3).) The
responses to this order are due by March 15, 2013. Any party shall have until March 17,
2013, to respond to any other partys arguments. Finally, petitioners are to explain that if

2
Rule 2.550(d) states: Express factual findings required to seal records [] The
court may order that a record be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts that
establish: [] (1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public
access to the record; [] (2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; [] (3)
A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record
is not sealed; [] (4) The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and [] (5) No less
restrictive means exist to achieve the overriding interest.
3

Rule 8.46(f)(3) states: If the reviewing court proposes to order a record unsealed
on its own motion, the court must mail notice to the parties. Any party may serve and file
an opposition within 10 days after the notice is mailed or as the court specifies. Any
other party may file a response within 5 days after an opposition is filed.

3
the presently sealed papers are ultimately returned to them, whether their mandate
petition must be summarily denied on inadequate record grounds. (Cal. Rules of Court,
rule 8.486(b)(1)(B)
4
; Sherwood v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 183, 186-187.) The
written responses to this order may be filed via facsimile transmission or e-mail at
2d1.clerk5@jud.ca.gov.
In compliance with NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court, supra, 20
Cal.4th at page 1217, copies of this order are to be provided to the Los Angeles
Metropolitan News Enterprise, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Los Angeles Daily
Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Determination of the petitions merits will be
deferred until the sealing issue is resolved.
There has been an extensive filing of documents under seal which were not sealed
by the trial court. Those documents are ordered unsealed as no motion has been made to
file under seal nor any overriding interest shown. (Rules 2.550(d), 8.46(e)
5
.) The only

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California Rules of Court, rule 8.486(b)(1)(B) states: (1) A petition that seeks
review of a trial court ruling must be accompanied by an adequate record, including
copies of: [] . . . (B) All documents and exhibits submitted to the trial court supporting
and opposing the petitioner's position . . . .
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Rule 8.46(e) states: (e) Record not filed in the trial court; motion or
application to file under seal [] (1) A record not filed in the trial court may be filed
under seal in the reviewing court only by order of that court; it must not be filed under
seal solely by stipulation or agreement of the parties. [] (2) To obtain an order under
(1), a party must serve and file a motion or application in the reviewing court,
accompanied by a declaration containing facts sufficient to justify the sealing. At the
same time, the party must lodge the record under (3), unless good cause is shown not to
lodge it. [] (3) To lodge a record, the party must put the record in an envelope or other
appropriate container, seal it, and attach a cover sheet that complies with rule 8.40(c) and
labels the contents as CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL. [] (4) If necessary to
prevent disclosure, any motion or application, any opposition, and any supporting
documents must be filed in a public redacted version and lodged in a complete version
conditionally under seal. Unless the court orders otherwise, any party that already
possesses copies of the records to be placed under seal must be served with a complete,
unredacted version of all papers as well as a redacted version. [] (5) On receiving a
lodged record, the clerk must note the date of receipt on the cover sheet and retain but not
file the record. The record must remain conditionally under seal pending determination

4
matters at issue are those specified at pages 1 and 2 of the respondent courts February
27, 2013 sealing order. No other matters are to be sealed.



_________________________________
PAUL TURNER, PRESIDING JUSTICE



of the motion or application. [] (6) The court may order a record filed under seal only
if it makes the findings required by rule 2.550(d)-(e). [] (7) If the court denies the
motion or application, the clerk must not place the lodged record in the case file but must
return it to the submitting party unless that party notifies the clerk in writing within 10
days after the order denying the motion or application that the record is to be filed. []
(8) An order sealing the record must direct the sealing of only those documents and
pages or, if reasonably practical, portions of those documents and pages, that contain the
material that needs to be placed under seal. All other portions of each document or page
must be included in the public file. [] (9) Unless the sealing order provides otherwise,
it prohibits the parties from disclosing the contents of any materials that have been sealed
in any subsequently filed records or papers.