(PC) Mackey v. Goss ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TOMMY MACKEY, No. 1:18-cv-00988-DAD-JDP 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. FOR A DISCOVERY EXTENSION AND DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO 14 D. GOSS, et al., APPOINT COUNSEL 15 Defendants. ECF No. 41 16 17 18 Plaintiff Tommy Mackey is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights 19 action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On September 14, 2020, plaintiff filed a single motion 20 for a 90-day discovery extension and for appointed counsel. ECF No. 41. The court will grant in 21 part and deny in part. In light of the pandemic and the previous stay in this case, the court 22 extends discovery by 90 days from the date of this order, and resets the deadline for dispositive 23 motions to 120 days from the date of this order. 24 The court denies plaintiff’s motion for counsel. Plaintiff contends that he has trouble 25 litigating the case because of the pandemic, lost property, and difficulties obtaining legal 26 paperwork. But plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, 27 see Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), withdrawn in part on other grounds 28 on reh’g en banc, 154 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 1998), and the court lacks the authority to require an 4:40 □□ YOO MARE VET MMMM Te PI Ver POY ev 1 | attorney to represent plaintiff, see Mallard v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of 2 | Iowa, 490 US. 296, 298 (1989). This court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel. See 3 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. However, without a means to compensate 4 | counsel, the court will seek volunteer counsel only in exceptional circumstances. In determining 5 | whether such circumstances exist, “the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success 6 | onthe merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 7 | complexity of the legal issues involved.” Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525 (internal quotation marks and 8 || citations omitted). 9 The court cannot conclude that exceptional circumstances requiring the appointment of 10 | counsel are present here. At this stage in the proceedings, plaintiff has not demonstrated a 11 likelihood of success on the merits, and the issues covered in his complaint do not appear 12 | unusually complex. 13 Accordingly, plaintiff's motion for the appointment of counsel is denied without 14 | prejudice. The court may revisit this issue at a later stage of the proceedings if the interests of 15 | justice so require. 16 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 ( Caan Dated: _ September 16, 2020 19 UNI STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 | No. 205. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28