(PC) Perkins v. O'Reilly ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DE’VON-SAMUEL JAMES- No. 2:18-cv-1827-TLN-EFB P SINGLETON PERKINS, 12 Plaintiff, 13 ORDER v. 14 D. BAUGHMAN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 19 U.S.C. § 1983. On November 20, 2019, the court recommended that plaintiff’s amended 20 complaint be dismissed for failure to comply with the court’s May 9, 2019 screening order. ECF 21 No. 14. Plaintiff now requests: (1) an extension of time to file objections to the court’s findings 22 and recommendations of dismissal; or alternatively, (2) leave to file a second amended complaint; 23 and (3) appointment of counsel. ECF No. 15. In an abundance of caution, the court will hold the 24 findings and recommendations in abeyance for thirty days to allow plaintiff an opportunity to file 25 a second amended complaint. However, the request for appointment of counsel is denied. 26 District courts may authorize the appointment of counsel to represent an indigent civil 27 litigant in certain exceptional circumstances. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 28 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir.1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335–36 (9th Cir.1990); 1 | Richards v. Harper, 864 F.2d 85, 87 (9th Cir. 1988). In considering whether exceptional 2 || circumstances exist, the court must evaluate (1) the plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits; 3 || and (2) the ability of the plaintiff to articulate her claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 4 | legal issues involved. Terrell, 935 F.2d at 1017. The court cannot conclude that plaintiff’ s 5 || likelihood of success, the complexity of the issues, or the degree of plaintiff’s ability to articulate 6 || her claims amount to exceptional circumstances justifying the appointment of counsel at this 7 | time. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s December 9, 2019 motion (ECF 9 | No. 15) is granted to the extent that plaintiff shall have thirty days within which to file a second 10 || amended complaint. Should plaintiff fail to comply with this order, the findings and 11 || recommendations will be submitted to the district judge for consideration. 12 | DATED: December 18, 2019. 13 tid, PDEA EDMUND F. BRENNAN 14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28