(HC) Livingston v. Covello ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DON C. LIVINGSTON, No. 2:20-cv-0047 AC P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER 14 PATRICK COVELLO, Warden, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus 18 filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. By order filed January 24, 2020, this court granted 19 petitioner’s request to proceed in forma pauperis and directed respondent to respond to the 20 petition. ECF No. 5. Petitioner now requests appointment of counsel on the ground, inter alia, 21 that he will be entitled to such appointment if the court convenes an evidentiary hearing 22 concerning his mental health status. Petitioner also requests an evidentiary hearing. These 23 requests will be denied as premature. 24 Petitioner is informed that there is no absolute right to appointment of counsel in habeas 25 proceedings. See Nevius v. Sumner, 105 F.3d 453, 460 (9th Cir. 1996). Under 18 U.S.C. § 26 3006A, the court may appoint counsel in a habeas proceeding “if the interests of justice so 27 require.” See Rule 8(c), Fed. R. Governing § 2254 Cases. In the present case, the court does not 28 find that the interests of justice would be served by appointment of counsel at the present time. 1 | Moreover, the court will determine whether an evidentiary hearing is warranted once this case has 2 | been fully briefed. 3 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner’s motions for appointment of 4 | counsel, and for an evidentiary hearing, ECF No. 8, are DENIED without prejudice. 5 || DATED: February 18, 2020 ~ 6 Hthren— Llane ALLISON CLAIRE 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28