(PC) Dixon v. Oleachea ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NATHANIEL DIXON, No. 2:15-cv-2372 KJM AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 D. OLEACHEA, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 18 appointment of counsel. ECF No. 113. 19 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 20 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 21 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 22 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 23 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 24 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 25 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 26 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 27 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 28 common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 1 || establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 2 || counsel. 3 In support of the motion to appoint counsel, plaintiff states in part that the issues in this 4 || case are complex; that he will need to present expert witnesses; that conflicting testimony will 5 || need to be elicited, and that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has no library time to research 6 || issues. See ECF No. 113 at 1-2. The court finds that these do not constitute exceptional 7 || circumstances. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for the appointment of 9 | counsel (ECF No. 113) is DENIED. 10 | DATED: January 29, 2021 . . Bettie Clare ALLISON CLAIRE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28