Noel v. Warden ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 PATRICK E. NOEL, Case No. 19-cv-03118-EMC 8 Plaintiff, ORDER EXTENDING DEADLINES 9 v. AND DENYING REQUEST FOR APPOINTMENT COUNSEL 10 WARDEN, Docket Nos. 6, 7, 8 11 Defendant. 12 13 14 Respondent’s request for an extension of the deadline to file an answer or other responsive 15 pleading to the petition for writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED. Docket No. 8. The Court now 16 sets the following new deadlines: Respondent must file and serve his answer or other responsive 17 pleading no later than March 20, 2020. Petitioner must file and serve his traverse no later than 18 April 17, 2020. 19 Petitioner has requested that counsel be appointed to represent him in this action. A 20 district court may appoint counsel to represent a habeas petitioner whenever “the court determines 21 that the interests of justice so require” and such person is financially unable to obtain 22 representation. 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). The decision to appoint counsel is within the 23 discretion of the district court. See Chaney v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 1986). 24 Appointment is mandatory only when the circumstances of a particular case indicate that 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 1 appointed counsel is necessary to prevent due process violations. See id. Petitioner’s request for 2 || appointment of counsel is DENIED because the interests of justice do not require appointment of 3 counsel in this action. Docket Nos. 6, 7. 4 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 7 Dated: January 17, 2020 8 Lx 9 hho ED M. CHEN 10 United States District Judge 11 12 13 © 15 16 = 17 Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28