(PC) Khademi v. South Placer County Jail ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVOOD KHADEMI, No. 2:21-cv-1498 KJM DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 SOUTH PLACER CO. JAIL, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 18 appointment of counsel and an investigator. 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. Inthe present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 3 With respect to plaintiffs request for the appointment of an investigator, the court is 4 | aware of no authority permitting it to provide plaintiff an investigator. See Murphy v. Rodriguez, 5 | No. 1:19-cv-0206 DAD EPG PC, 2020 WL 3868470, at *1 (E.D. Cal. July 9, 2020); 6 | Georgacarakos v. Wiley, No. 07-cv-1712-MSK-MEH, 2009 WL 440934, at *7 (D. Colo. Feb. 23, 7 | 2009) (in forma pauperis statute does not provide for the appointment of investigators). 8 | Plaintiff’s request for an investigator will be denied. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motions for the appointment of 10 | counsel and for an investigator (ECF No. 13) is denied. 11 | Dated: October 15, 2021 12 13 14 ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 || DLB:9 DB prisonerinbox/civil rights/R/khad1498.31 24 25 26 27 28