(PC) Frost v. Watson ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 MICHAEL FROST, No. 2:18-cv-3002 TLN CKD P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 J. WATSON, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. The United States Supreme Court has 17 ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 18 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional 19 circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 20 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 21 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 22 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 23 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 24 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 25 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 26 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to 27 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 28 exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 1 Plaintiff requests counsel on the grounds that he suffers from various mental health 2 | conditions that limit his awareness. (ECF No. 23.) The request will be denied because the mere 3 | claim that plaintiff suffers from these conditions is not enough to establish exceptional 4 | circumstances warranting appointment of counsel. If plaintiff chooses to file another motion for 5 || appointment of counsel, he should specify how his conditions prevent him from proceeding 6 | without assistance and provide medical documentation supporting his claimed impairments. 7 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for the appointment of 8 || counsel (ECF No. 23) is denied. 9 | Dated: August 28, 2019 dp. 7 fh | fe 10 CAROLYN K DELANEY 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 B 13:fros3002.31 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28