(PC)Meza v. Chaudhry ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BRAYAN MEZA, No. 2:18-CV-3206-JAM-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 A. CHAUDHRY, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the Court is plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel 19 (ECF No. 87). 20 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to 21 require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. See Mallard v. United States Dist. 22 Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the Court may request the 23 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). See Terrell v. Brewer, 935 24 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 25 A finding of “exceptional circumstances” requires an evaluation of both the likelihood of success 26 on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims on his own in light of the 27 complexity of the legal issues involved. See Terrell, 935 F.2d at 1017. Neither factor is 28 dispositive and both must be viewed together before reaching a decision. See id. In Terrell, the 4.10 UV VAAIVE LIVING bMVVULITICITIt OO PHM VVvercy rPaywt evre 1 | Ninth Circuit concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion with respect to appointment 2 | of counsel because: 3 ... Terrell demonstrated sufficient writing ability and legal knowledge to articulate his claim. The facts he alleged and the issues he raised were not 4 of substantial complexity. The compelling evidence against Terrell made it 5 extremely unlikely that he would succeed on the merits. 6 Id. at 1017. In the present case, the Court does not at this time find the required exceptional 7 circumstances. Plaintiff states that the appointment of counsel is warranted because he has no 8 legal education and is incarcerated with limited law library access. See ECF No. 87, pg. 1. The 9 Court finds these circumstances to be the norm for prisoner litigants and not “exceptional.” 10 Further, contrary to plaintiff's contention, the factual and legal issues involved in resolving 11 plaintiff's discrimination claims against defendants are not complex. Next, a review of the docket 12 reflects that plaintiff has been able to articulate his claims on his own. Specifically, plaintiffs 13 second amended complaint has been found appropriate for service and defendants have answered. 14 Finally, at this early stage of the proceedings, the Court cannot say that plaintiff has demonstrated 15 any likelihood he will prevail on the merits. 16 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for the 17 appointment of counsel (ECF No. 87) is denied. 18 19 20 Dated: June 1, 2020 21 DENNIS M. COTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28