(PC) Lewis v. Ugwueze ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DARONTA T. LEWIS, ) Case No.: 1:20-cv-00596-AWI-SAB (PC) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. ) FOR APPOINTMNET OF COUNSEL, WITHOUT PREJUDICE 14 DR. G. UGWUEZE, et al., ) ) (ECF No. 35) 15 Defendants. ) ) 16 ) ) 17 ) 18 Plaintiff Daronta T. Lewis is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action 19 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel, filed October 22, 21 2020. 22 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 23 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require any attorney to represent 24 plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern 25 District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the court 26 may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 27 1525. 28 //// —_——— III IIR IIR EIR ISD EINE IIE OSI I IIE 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, the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on th 4 || merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of th 5 || legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 6 In the present case, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. Even if it 7 || assumed that plaintiff is not well versed in the law and that he has made serious allegations which, if 8 || proved, would entitle him to relief, his case is not exceptional. The Court is faced with similar cases 9 || almost daily. While the Court recognizes that Plaintiff is at a disadvantage due to his pro se status an 10 || his incarceration, the test is not whether Plaintiff would benefit from the appointment of counsel. See 11 || Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 1986) (“Most actions require development of 12 || further facts during litigation and a pro se litigant will seldom be in a position to investigate easily the 13 || facts necessary to support the case.”) Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of lega 14 || education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that would 15 || warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. The test is whether exception circumstances 16 || exist and here, they do not. Although Plaintiff contends that he does not have sufficient access to the 17 || law library while he is out to court and housed at Contra Costa County Jail, Plaintiff's present filing c 18 || the instant motion, along with motions requesting a settlement conference, and return of his legal 19 || property demonstrate otherwise. (See ECF Nos. 33, 34, 35, 36.) Furthermore, at this stage of the 20 || proceedings, the Court cannot determine that Plaintiff is likely to proceed on the merits. Accordingly 21 |} Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel is denied, without prejudice. 22 23 ||} IT IS SO ORDERED. A (re 24 |! pated: _ October 23, 2020 OF 25 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27 28