(PC) Fairfield v. Corpuz ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MELISSA FAIRFIELD, Case No. 1:19-cv-00632-JDP 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 13 v. ECF No. 10 14 CRISTANO CORPUZ, et al., ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST 15 Defendants. FOR AN EXTENSION 16 ECF No. 11 17 ORDER DENYING AS MOON PLAINTIFF’S INITIAL REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION 18 ECF No. 9 19 20 21 Plaintiff Melissa Fairfield is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights 22 action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On November 18, 2019, plaintiff moved for the 23 appointment of counsel. ECF No. 10. Fairfield argues that her claims are meritorious, that she is 24 incarcerated, and that she has a layperson’s understanding of the law. Id. 25 Fairfield does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see Rand 26 v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), withdrawn in part on other grounds on reh’g en 27 banc, 154 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 1998), and the court lacks the authority to require an attorney to 28 1 | represent plaintiff, see Mallard v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 2 | 296, 298 (1989). This court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel. See 28 U.S.C. § 3 1915(e)(1); Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. However, without a means to compensate counsel, I will 4 | seek volunteer counsel only in exceptional circumstances. In determining whether such 5 | circumstances exist, I “must evaluate both the likelihood of success on the merits [and] the ability 6 | of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues 7 | involved.” Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 8 I cannot conclude that exceptional circumstances requiring the appointment of counsel are 9 | present here. The issues in this case do not appear unusually complicated and, in recent filings, 10 | plaintiff appears able to articulate her points. I continue to believe that plaintiff's amended 11 | complaint will benefit from the use of a complaint form. At this stage in the proceedings, 12 | moreover, plaintiff has not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits. I therefore deny 13 | plaintiff's request to appoint counsel, ECF No. 10, though I may revisit this issue at a later stage 14 | of the proceedings if justice so requires. 15 I grant plaintiffs request for an extension. ECF No. 11. Plaintiff shall have until 16 | December 31, 2019, to file an amended complaint. 17 Plaintiffs initial request for an extension, ECF No. 9, is denied as moot. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 ( Caan Dated: _ November 21, 2019 21 UNIT#D STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 | No. 205. 25 26 27 28