NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — An Orange County deputy public defender objected in court Wednesday to a protective order she argued was so restrictive it prevented her from effectively representing her client, delaying the setting of a new pretrial date in a DUI injury case.
In a pretrial hearing on Feb. 11, 2026, a new pretrial date failed to be set due to the objection to the court protective order. Deputy Public Defender Kate Robinson objected to the order, arguing that the language is overly restrictive and prevents her from effectively carrying out her responsibilities.
Robinson’s case involves two charges in a driving under the influence incident that caused injury. The incident occurred in February 2025, and the pretrial hearing was scheduled for today.
Robinson and Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Tunaru were aiming to reschedule the pretrial hearing for April of this year.
The protective order was insisted upon by Tunaru to prevent the dissemination of sensitive medical information. It did not allow Robinson to share the documents with anyone else in relation to the case, including other attorneys and paralegals.
Robinson argued that the restriction would hinder her ability to properly carry out her responsibilities in the case. She agreed that the information should be subject to restrictions to prevent individuals not related to the case from accessing medical documents, but said the restrictive language prevented her from consulting with anyone in her office about the case.
Additionally, she would not be able to obtain paralegal assistance on the case in relation to those documents.
Judge Maria Hernandez said she viewed the language in the protective order as fair but gave Robinson the option to litigate the issue in a different department. Hernandez stated she could not litigate the issue in her department but said Robinson could wait for another department to become available to hear the matter and potentially resolve it.
Additionally, Hernandez asked the accused whether he would waive his right to be present at all hearings related to his case. Since Robinson did not know when she would be able to litigate the issue regarding the protective order, she assured the accused that she could handle it without him present.
He agreed to allow her to address the issue alone in a different courtroom rather than being present during the hearing.
A new pretrial date has not been set as Robinson awaits a hearing on the issue regarding the protective order. Once the conflict is resolved, the next hearing date is likely to be set in April 2026.
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