(PC) Fayed v. Allison ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMES MICHAEL FAYED, No. 2:21-CV-2141-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 KATHLEEN ALLISON, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel, 19 ECF No. 15. 20 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to 21 require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. See Mallard v. United States Dist. 22 Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the court may request the 23 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). See Terrell v. Brewer, 935 24 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 25 A finding of “exceptional circumstances” requires an evaluation of both the likelihood of success 26 on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims on his own in light of the 27 complexity of the legal issues involved. See Terrell, 935 F.2d at 1017. Neither factor is 28 dispositive and both must be viewed together before reaching a decision. See id. In Terrell, the 1 | Ninth Circuit concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion with respect to appointment 2 | of counsel because: 3 ... Terrell demonstrated sufficient writing ability and legal knowledge to articulate his claim. The facts he alleged and the issues he raised were not 4 of substantial complexity. The compelling evidence against Terrell made it 5 extremely unlikely that he would succeed on the merits. 6 Id. at 1017. 7 In the present case, the Court does not at this time find the required exceptional 8 | circumstances. Plaintiff states that appointment of counsel is warranted because: (1) he is 9 | indigent; (2) he has limited and inadequate prison law library access; (3) his case has merit; and 10 | (4) the case will likely involve extensive and complicated discovery; and (5) it is unfair to require 11 | him to proceed pro se against defendants who will have access to experienced counsel. See ECF 12 | No. 15. These circumstances are common among prisoners filing civil rights cases and, thus, are 13 | not extraordinary. Furthermore, a review of Plaintiff's filings to date reflects an adequate ability 14 | to articulate on his own. Finally, as to the merits, the Court has ordered Plaintiff to file an 15 | amended complaint because it found Plaintiff's original claim deficient. It is thus impossible to 16 | say that Plaintiff has established a likelihood that he will succeed on the merits 17 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's request for the 18 | appointment of counsel, ECF No. 15, is denied. 19 20 | Dated: January 5, 2022 1 DENNIS M. COTA 27 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28