(PC) Cordova v. Hurtado ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MANUEL CARDOVA, No. 2:22-cv-1296 AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 D. HURTADO, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 3. In support of the motion, 18 plaintiff states in part that he has problems reading and that he is a mental health patient. Id. He 19 also states that the issues in his case are very complicated and that he is unable to afford counsel. 20 Id. 21 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 22 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 23 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the court may request the voluntary 24 assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 25 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 26 A cursory review of plaintiff’s complaint indicates that it is sufficiently legible; that 27 plaintiff has stated with adequate clarity the nature of his claims and the relief sought, and that he 28 has enough of an understanding of his case to have provided seemingly appropriate 1 || documentation to support it. See ECF No. | at 4-5, 7 (claims raised and relief sought); ECF No. 1 2 || at 8-24 (supporting documentation). For these reasons, the court does not find the required 3 || exceptional circumstances at this time. Therefore, plaintiffs request for the appointment of 4 | counsel will therefore be denied. 5 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for the appointment of 6 || counsel (ECF No. 3) is DENIED. 7 || DATED: July 26, 2022 ~ 8 Htttenr— Lhor—e_ ALLISON CLAIRE 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28