(PC) Wolinski v. Gill ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 KRZYSZTOF F. WOLINSKI, No. 2:19-cv-2369 WBS DB P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 GURSHARN GILL, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 17 appointment of counsel and an extension of time to file objections to this court’s February 20, 18 2020 findings and recommendations. 19 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 20 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 21 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 22 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 23 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 24 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 25 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 26 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 27 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 28 common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 1 establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 2 counsel. As set out in the court’s February 20, 2020 findings and recommendations, plaintiff 3 appears to be trying to raise the same claim in this case that he raised previously in another case 4 in this court. Because plaintiff cannot pursue the same claim in two different cases, this court has 5 recommended that the present case be dismissed. Based on that finding and recommendation, 6 appointment of counsel is not appropriate. 7 Plaintiff has also requested an extension of time to file objections to the February 20, 8 2020, findings and recommendations. Good cause appearing it shall be granted. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 10 1. Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 14) is denied; 11 2. Plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 15) is granted; and 12 3. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of this order in which to file objections to 13 the findings and recommendations. 14 DATED: March 10, 2020 15 16 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 17 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DLB:9 25 D B/prisoner-civil rights/woli2369.31+36obj 26 27 28