(PC) Vazquez v. Conannan ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JUAN R. VAZQUEZ, ) Case No.: 1:19-cv-00045-DAD-SAB (PC) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. ) FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL, WITHOUT PREJUDICE 14 E. CONANNAN, et.al., ) ) [ECF No. 44] 15 Defendants. ) ) 16 ) 17 Plaintiff Juan R. Vazquez is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action 18 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 19 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel, filed August 21, 20 2020. 21 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. Rowland, 113 22 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require any attorney to represent plaintiff pursuant 23 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 490 24 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the Court may request the 25 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. Without a 26 reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will seek volunteer counsel only in 27 the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether “exceptional circumstances exist, the 28 district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] MADE Se LDV NEE SEN MUO IR MOE Te PAY oe 1 articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. (intern 2 || quotation marks and citations omitted). 3 Plaintiff seeks appointment of counsel to assist him in litigating this action since he has □□□ 4 || released on parole. However, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. Even 5 assumed that Plaintiff is not well versed in the law and that he has made serious allegations which, 6 || proved, would entitle him to relief, his case is not exceptional. Circumstances common to most pro : 7 || litigants, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not alone establish exception 8 || circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. The legal issues prese 9 |) in this action are not complex. Further, at this early stage of the proceedings, the Court cannot determi 10 || that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits. Further, there is no indication from the record th 11 || Plaintiff has been unable to adequately articular claims and prosecute this action—whether alone or wi 12 assistance. Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for the appointment of counsel is HEREBY □□□□□□ 13 || without prejudice. 14 15 IS SO ORDERED. A (re 16 || Dated: _ August 24, 2020 OF 17 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28