(PC) Brooks v. Covello ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 WILLIE LEE BROOKS, II, No. 2:20-CV-1573-WBS-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 COVELLO, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action. Pending 18 before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion, ECF No. 43, for the appointment of counsel. 19 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to 20 require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in civil rights cases. See Mallard v. United States 21 Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the court may 22 request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). See Terrell v. 23 Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 24 (9th Cir. 1990). A finding of “exceptional circumstances” requires an evaluation of both the 25 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims on his 26 own in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Terrell, 935 F.2d at 1017. 27 Neither factor is dispositive and both must be viewed together before reaching a decision. See id. 28 In Terrell, the Ninth Circuit concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion with respect 1 | to appointment of counsel because: 2 ... Terrell demonstrated sufficient writing ability and legal knowledge to articulate his claim. The facts he alleged and the issues he raised were not 3 of substantial complexity. The compelling evidence against Terrell made it 4 extremely unlikely that he would succeed on the merits. 5 Id. at 1017. 6 Plaintiff’s motion in its entirety states, “I would like to know if the court has a 7 | panel of attorneys that accept civil rights cases. Please let me know. I have motioned the court 8 | for appointment of counsel. Thank you.” See ECF No. 43, pg. 1. Plaintiff does not otherwise 9 | explain why appointment of counsel is warranted. Given that Plaintiff has not presented anything 10 || demonstrating some extraordinary circumstance or his likelihood of success on the merits, and 11 | given Plaintiffs ability thus far to articulate his claims, the Court will not grant Plaintiff's motion 12 | at this time. 13 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs request for the 14 | appointment of counsel, ECF No. 43, is denied. 15 16 || Dated: November 5, 2021 Ssvcqo_ M DENNIS M. COTA 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28