Lawyers file joint discovery proposal

Motion to shield Capitol cameras

Attorneys for a man who was injured during a 2020 protest and Arkansas State Police officials have filed a joint motion in the civil lawsuit the man filed last year for a protective order over concerns related to security footage.

In his June 2022 complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Don Lloyd Cook, 60, claimed he was struck in the head by a police bean bag round during a June 1, 2020, George Floyd protest at the Arkansas Capitol.

The complaint named nine people: Ryan Wingo, the State Police trooper who fired the bean bag projectile that struck Cook; seven other State Police officials (five of them unidentified); and then-State Police Director Col. William Bryant.

Attorneys for both sides submitted a motion Monday seeking a proposed protective order for the discovery process tied to their concerns about security cameras at the Capitol.

“Discovery requires the protection of information that contains confidential, sensitive, and private information concerning the location of security cameras on the Arkansas State Capitol building,” the motion states.

A copy of the proposed confidentiality agreement and protective order defines “confidential documents” as material designated as such by a party to the case or attorneys “based upon a good-faith belief that the designation is appropriate because the documents contain nonpublic and sensitive security information.”

A similar definition applies to the term “confidential information.”

“The Parties agree that

Confidential Materials shall not be disclosed, directly or indirectly, to anyone other than the Parties, counsel for the Parties, witnesses, consultants, and expert witnesses specially retained or specially employed for this case,” the proposed order says.

Non-party witnesses provided with confidential materials must agree to the terms of the agreement and return all confidential materials at the conclusion of the case, according to the proposed order.

“Nothing in this order prevents any Party from disclosing Confidential Materials to the Court, its staff, and court reporters at deposition or trial, subject to such protections as the Court may order,” the proposed order says.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker.

In the complaint, Cook, himself an attorney, said he was knocked out by the force of the bean bag projectile and had to undergo emergency surgery because of the injuries to his face, jaw and teeth.

Although police in 2021 arrested Cook on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing governmental operations related to his participation in the 2020 protest, he entered a pretrial diversion agreement and the charge was dismissed, the complaint said.

Cook is represented in the civil lawsuit by attorney Michael J. Laux.