(HC) Phea v. Pfeiffer ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MALANJE PHEA, No. 2:20-cv-0283 WBS GGH P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER 14 CHRISTIAN PFEIFFER, Warden, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner has requested the appointment of counsel. ECF Nos. 39, 43, 47. Petitioner 18 asserts as an indigent petitioner he is entitled to an appointment of counsel upon request. There 19 currently exists no absolute right to appointment of counsel in habeas proceedings. See Nevius v. 20 Sumner, 105 F.3d 453, 460 (9th Cir. 1996). However, 18 U.S.C. § 3006A authorizes the 21 appointment of counsel at any stage of the case “if the interests of justice so require.” See Rule 22 8(c), Fed. R. Governing § 2254 Cases. In the present case, the court does not find that the 23 interests of justice would be served by the appointment of counsel at the present time. 24 Additionally, although the request appears to be directed to state judges, petitioner may 25 have sought to disqualify the undersigned based on “irregularities” in court proceedings, one of 26 which petitioner asserts is based on the denial of his previous requests for an appointment of 27 counsel. ECF No. 46. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455, a judge shall be disqualified if the judge’s 28 impartiality might be reasonably questioned or the judge has a personal bias or prejudice 1 concerning a party. See 28 U.S.C. § 455(a),(b). Here, petitioner’s denial of his requests for an 2 appointment of counsel do not establish the undersigned’s impartiality might be reasonable 3 questioned or the undersigned ha a personal bias or prejudice against petitioner. See Liteky v. 4 United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994). Petitioner’s motion to disqualify the undersigned fails to 5 present reasonable grounds for disqualification. 6 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 7 1. Petitioner’s requests for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 39, 43 and 47) are denied 8 without prejudice to a renewal of the motion at a later stage of the proceedings; and 9 2. Petitioner’s motion to disqualify (ECF No. 46) is denied. 10 Dated: November 23, 2020 /s/ Gregory G. Hollows 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28