(PC) Burchett v. California Dept of Corr and Rehabilitations ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 PETER BURCHETT, Case No. 1:19-cv-00055-NONE-EPG (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 FOR APPOINTMENT OF PRO BONO v. COUNSEL, WITHOUT PREJUDICE 14 JANE DOE, et al., (ECF No. 85) 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Peter Burchett (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in 19 this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 On June 22, 2020, Plaintiff filed a motion for appointment of pro bono counsel. (ECF No. 21 85). Plaintiff asks for appointment of counsel to gather evidence for him. Plaintiff also appears 22 to argue that his case is meritorious. 23 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 24 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), withdrawn in part on other grounds, 154 F.3d 952 25 (9th Cir. 1998), and the Court cannot require an attorney to represent Plaintiff pursuant to 28 26 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 27 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the Court may request 28 the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. wOoOw 4:40 VV YY INI NS OMIM ON IC ee TOYS ev 1 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the Court will seek 2 | volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 3 | “exceptional circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success of 4 | the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 5 | complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 6 The Court will not order appointment of pro bono counsel at this time. The Court has 7 || reviewed the record in this case, and at this time the Court is unable to make a determination that 8 | Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of his claims. Moreover, while the Court has had some 9 | difficulty understanding Plaintiff’s filings, it appears that Plaintiff can adequately articulate his 10 } claims. 11 Plaintiff is advised that he is not precluded from renewing his motion for appointment of 12 | pro bono counsel at a later stage of the proceedings. 13 For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for appointment of pro 14 | bono counsel is DENIED without prejudice. 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. | Dated: _ June 23, 2020 [sf hey 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28