(PC) Soto v. Hansen ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 MARTIN SOTO, No. 2:20-cv-1635 TLN AC P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 D. HANSEN, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. The United States Supreme Court has 17 ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 18 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional 19 circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 20 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 21 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 22 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 23 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 24 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 25 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 26 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to 27 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 28 exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. ] Plaintiff requests appointment of counsel on the grounds that he requires assistance with 2 || the case and discovering defendants’ full names, which he is unable to do on his own because he 3 || isina mental health program. ECF No. 16. There is no need for plaintiff to discover defendants’ 4 | full names, as they have already been identified and indicated their intent to waive service of 5 || process, ECF No. 15, and plaintiffs general claim that he requires assistance does not establish 6 || the existence of extraordinary circumstances. 7 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for the appointment of 8 || counsel, ECF No. 16, is DENIED. 9 || DATED: May 5, 2021 ~ 10 Chthion— Chore ALLISON CLAIRE 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28