(PC) Quarles v. California State Prison Corcoran ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NIKKO J. QUARLES Case No. 1:19-cv-00109-AWI-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 13 v. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S 14 J. VELASQUEZ, A. PRITCHARD, I. EXPEDITED REQUEST FOR COPIES MEDINA, J. AMAYA, 15 ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO PROVDIE Defendants. COPY OF ORDER TO LITIGATION 16 COORDINATOR FOR HAND-DELIVERY TO PLAINTIFF DUE TO TIME 17 SENSITIVITIES 18 (Doc. Nos. 38) 19 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion requesting appointment of counsel and 20 copies of various pleadings and order filed on March 10, 2022. (Doc. No. 38). Plaintiff also 21 requests that the Court expedite a ruling on this motion seeking appointment of counsel and 22 copies. (Id.). As discussed below, the Court denies Plaintiff’s request for appointment of counsel 23 but, due to the imminent settlement conference grants his request for expedited copies and 24 information. 25 Request for Appointment of Counsel 26 The Court previously twice denied Plaintiff’s earlier motions to appoint counsel. (Doc. 27 Nos. 15, 31). As noted in the Court’s previous Orders, the United States Constitution does not 28 1 require appointment of counsel in this matter. Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 354 (1996) 2 (explaining Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. at 817 (1977), did not create a right to appointment of 3 counsel in civil cases). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, this court has discretionary authority to appoint 4 counsel for indigent to commence, prosecute, or defend a civil action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) 5 (stating the court has authority to appoint counsel for people unable to afford counsel); see also 6 United States v. McQuade, 519 F.2d 1180 (9th Cir. 1978) (addressing relevant standard of review 7 for motions to appoint counsel in civil cases) (other citations omitted). However, motions to 8 appoint counsel in civil cases are granted only in “exceptional circumstances.” Id. at 1181. The 9 court may consider may factors to determine if exceptional circumstances warrant appointment of 10 counsel including, but not limited to, proof of indigence, the likelihood of success on the merits, 11 and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his or her claims pro se in light of the complexity of 12 the legal issues involved. Id.; see also Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), 13 withdrawn in part on other grounds on reh’g en banc, 154 F.2d 952 (9th Cir. 1998). 14 Plaintiff has not raised any new circumstances to meet his “burden of demonstrating 15 exceptional circumstances.” Jones v. Chen, 2014 WL 12684497, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 14, 2014). 16 The Court is sensitive to the fact that Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and is incarcerated; however, 17 he faces the same obstacles all pro se prisoners face. Plaintiff has capably filed motions and his 18 complaint plausibly stated a claim to survive initial screening. The case procedurally remains at 19 the early stages of litigation and is set for a settlement conference. Should this case progress and 20 Plaintiff’s circumstances change so that he is able to demonstrate exceptional circumstances, he 21 may renew his motion for appointment of counsel. 22 Request for Expedited Copies and Information 23 Plaintiff explains that he was previously being assisted in his case by another inmate who 24 was transferred to a different institution and mistakenly took Plaintiff’s legal papers with him. 25 Plaintiff requests copies of certain documents so he can continue to prosecute this case with the 26 assistance of another inmate. 27 This Court will grant Plaintiff a one-time courtesy of copies for this action. In particular, 28 the Court will direct the Clerk to send Plaintiff a paper copy of the following pleadings and 1 orders: the Docket Sheet; First Amended Complaint (Doc. No. 24), June 1, 2021, Screening Order 2 (Doc. No. 25), and January 12, 2022, Order Setting Settlement Conference (Doc. No. 32). 3 Due to the impending settlement conference scheduled for April 7, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., 4 the Court reiterates herein what Plaintiff needs to include in his confidential settlement statement 5 that is due no later than March 31, 2022. 6 Plaintiff must mail his confidential settlement statement to: the Attention of Magistrate 7 Judge Dennis M. Cota, USDC CAED, 2986 Bechelli Lane, Suite 300, Redding, California, 96002 8 so it arrives no later than March 31, 2022. The envelope shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL 9 SETTLEMENT STATEMENT.” Parties are also directed to file a “Notice of Submission of 10 Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R. 270(d)). Settlement statements should not be filed 11 with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any other party. Settlement statements shall be 12 clearly marked “confidential” with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated 13 prominently thereon. 14 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, typed 15 or neatly printed and include the following: 16 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 17 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon 18 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 19 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in dispute. 20 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 21 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 22 trial. 23 e. The relief sought. 24 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a history 25 of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 26 g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement conference, 27 including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 28 h. If the parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any action or claims not in this 1 suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, including case 2 number(s) if possible. 3 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 4 1. Plaintiff's request for appointment of counsel (Doc. No. 38) is DENIED. 5 2. Plaintiff expedited request for copies (Doc. No. 38) is GRANTED to the extent set 6 forth herein. 7 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to mail a courtesy copy of the following to Plaintiff: 8 the Docket Sheet; First Amended Complaint (Doc. No. 24), June 1, 2021, Screening 9 Order (Doc. No. 25), and January 12, 2022, Order Setting Settlement Conference 10 (Doc. No. 32). 11 4. The Clerk shall email or fax a copy of this Order to the litigation coordinator at 12 Plaintiff’s institution. The litigation coordinator shall hand-deliver a copy of this 13 Order to Plaintiff in order that Plaintiff may adhere to the deadlines for his 14 settlement statement. 15 '© | Dated: _ March 14, 2022 law Nh. fareh Base □□□ 17 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA ig UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28