(PC) Ruiz v. Rojas ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ROGELIO MAY RUIZ, 1:22-cv-01345-GSA-PC 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO 12 APPOINT COUNSEL AND INTERPRETER v. 13 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION ROJAS, FOR EXTENSION OF TIME 14 15 Defendant. (ECF No. 11.) DEADLINE TO FILE FIRST AMENDED 16 COMPLAINT: FEBRUARY 10, 2023 17 18 I. BACKGROUND 19 Rogelio May Ruiz (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis 20 with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On October 21, 2022, Plaintiff filed 21 the Complaint commencing this action. (ECF No. 1.) The Complaint is written in the Spanish 22 language. (Id.) 23 On November 18, 2002, the Court screened the Complaint and issued an order striking 24 the Complaint, with leave to file an amended complaint written in the English language by 25 December 21, 2022. (ECF No. 10.) 26 On November 18, 2022, Plaintiff filed a motion for appointment of counsel and an 27 interpreter, and a motion for extension of time to file the amended complaint. (ECF No. 11.) 28 1 II. MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND INTERPRETER 2 Plaintiff requests the Court to appoint counsel and an interpreter to assist him with this 3 case, arguing that Plaintiff is illiterate, speaks only Spanish, is contagious with Covid-19, has 4 blurry vision, and needs surgery. Plaintiff requests the appointment of a bilingual public defender 5 to represent him. 6 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 7 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require an attorney to 8 represent plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court 9 for the Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298, 109 S.Ct. 1814, 1816 (1989). However, in 10 certain exceptional circumstances the court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel 11 pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. 12 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will seek 13 volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 14 “exceptional circumstances exist, the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success 15 of the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 16 complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 17 In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 18 Plaintiff seeks appointment of counsel because he does not speak English. This is not an 19 exceptional circumstance under the law. Plaintiff has been ordered to file an amended complaint 20 in the English language but has not done so. The court does not accept complaints or other case 21 documents written in a language other than English, and the court shall not respond using a 22 language other than English. There are no appropriated funds available to translate court 23 documents from a foreign language to English or vice versa. Spanish translations and interpreters 24 are not required in civil cases such as this one under either California or Federal law. See, e.g., 25 United States v. Si, 333 F.3d 1041, 1044 n.3 (9th Cir. 2002). Until Plaintiff has filed his amended 26 complaint in English, the court cannot determine whether there are other exceptional 27 circumstances under the law that would affect whether counsel should be appointed in this case. 28 /// 1 Thus, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances, and Plaintiff’s motion shall 2 be denied without prejudice to renewal of the motion at a later stage of the proceedings. 3 III. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME 4 Plaintiff requests an extension of time to file an amended complaint pursuant to the 5 court’s order issued on November 18, 2022. The court finds good cause to grant Plaintiff’s 6 request. Accordingly, Plaintiff shall be granted an extension of time until February 10, 2023, 7 in which to file an amended complaint in the English language. 8 IV. CONCLUSION 9 Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 10 1. Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel and an interpreter is DENIED, 11 without prejudice; 12 2. Plaintiff is GRANTED an extension of time until February 10, 2023, in which 13 to file an amended complaint pursuant to the Court’s order issued on November 18, 2022; and 14 3. Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this order shall result in a recommendation that 15 this case be dismissed in its entirety. 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 18 Dated: January 6, 2023 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28