Puckett v. Dyer ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOSEPH PUCKETT, Case No. 1:22-cv-750-ADA-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 13 v. (Doc. No. 24) 14 JERRY DYER, ET AL., MAY 26, 2023 DEADLINE 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Pending before the Court is pro se Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel filed on 19 September 1, 2023. (Doc. No. 24). Plaintiff seeks appointment of counsel on the basis that he 20 has been deemed indigent and granted permission to proceed in forma pauperis in this action. 21 (Id.). 22 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, this court has discretionary authority to appoint counsel for an 23 indigent person to commence, prosecute, or defend a civil action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) 24 (stating the court has authority to appoint counsel for people unable to afford counsel). Contrary 25 to Plaintiff’s assertion, Plaintiff paid the filing fee and was not granted permission to proceed in 26 forma pauperis. (See August 4, 2022 Order finding Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma 27 pauperis moot due to Plaintiff paying the filing fee; see also receipt number CAE100050978 in 28 the amount of $402.00 on or about July 26, 2022). Thus, there has been no finding that Plaintiff 1 | is indigent, and thus Plaintiff is not entitled to appointment of counsel. 2 Even if indigent, Plaintiff’s indigence alone does not entitle him to appointment of 3 | counsel. See Montano v. Solomon, 2010 WL 2403389, at *2 (E.D. Cal. June 11, 2010); Callender 4 | v. Ramm, 2018 WL 6448536, at *3 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 10, 2018). The United States Constitution 5 | does not require appointment of counsel in civil cases. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 354 6 | (1996) (explaining Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1996), did not create a right to appointment of 7 | counsel in civil cases). Instead, counsel is appointed in civil cases only in “exceptional 8 || circumstances.” United States v. McQuade, 519 F.2d 1180 (9th Cir. 1978) (addressing relevant 9 | standard of review for motions to appoint counsel in civil cases) (other citations omitted). Other 10 | than claiming he is indigent; Plaintiff fails to provide any basis to warrant the Court exercising it 11 | discretionary authority to appoint counsel. 12 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 13 Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (Doc. No. 24) is DENIED. 14 | Dated: _ September 22. 2023 Mihaw. □□ fares Zackte 16 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28