Doe v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County

Filed 9/29/16 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

JOHN DOE, B271508

Petitioner, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC607529) v.

THE SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY,

Respondent;

POULET NIKOLAY,

Real Party in Interest.

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING; petition for writ of mandate. William F. Fahey, Judge. Petition granted. The Ryan Law Firm, Kelly F. Ryan and Nathaniel P. Loakes for Petitioner. No appearance for Respondent. No appearance for Real Party in Interest. ___________________________

Petitioner John Doe seeks a writ of mandate vacating an order of the superior court directing that all future proceedings in the underlying action, brought pursuant to Civil Code section 1708.85,1 be filed with his true name. We grant the petition, vacate the superior court’s April 8, 2016 order compelling the parties to file all future documents utilizing Doe’s true name, and direct the superior court to treat Confidential Information Form MC-125 as confidential and not available for public inspection. BACKGROUND Section 1708.85, which became effective on July 1, 2015, provides for a private cause of action “against a person who intentionally distributes by any means a photograph, film, videotape, recording, or any other reproduction of another, without the other’s consent, if (1) the person knew that the other person had a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private, (2) the distributed material exposes an intimate body part of the other person, or shows the other person engaging in an act of intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy, or other act of sexual penetration, and (3) the other person suffers general or special damages as described in Section 48a.” (§ 1708.85, subd. (a).) On January 20, 2016, Doe filed a complaint against Nikolay, alleging that Nikolay violated section 1708.85 by distributing, and threatening to distribute to Doe’s employer, electronic and/or physical copies of photographs, film, videotape, recordings, depicting Doe’s exposed intimate body parts or showing Doe engaging in an act of intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy, or other act of sexual penetration. The complaint was filed utilizing the pseudonym John Doe. Section 1708.85, subdivision (f), permits a party to file such an action under a pseudonym. As required by section 1708.85, subdivision (f)(1), Doe filed and served a confidential information form, Judicial Council Confidential Information Form MC-125, which included Doe’s true name and informed the court that he would be using a pseudonym throughout the course of the action. The statute requires that the “court shall keep the plaintiff’s name and excluded or redacted characteristics confidential.” (§