(PC) Sewell v. Cornwell ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BRIAN SEWELL, No. 2:18-cv-2988 DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 A. CORNWELL, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 18 appointment of counsel. Plaintiff alleges defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious 19 medical needs when they delayed his medical care to remove several bindles of drugs he had 20 swallowed. 21 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 22 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 23 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 24 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 25 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 26 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 27 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 28 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 2 | common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 3 | establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 4 | counsel. In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances at this 5 | time. 6 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for the appointment of 7 | counsel (ECF No. 28) is denied. 8 || Dated: December 4, 2019 9 10 pps ‘BORAH BARNES DB/prisoner-civil rights/sewe2988.31 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28