Zimmons v. Kalisher ( 2020 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 MELVIN CHARLES ZIMMONS, 4 Case No. 20-cv-00859-YGR (PR) Plaintiff, 5 ORDER GRANTING IN PART v. PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR 6 EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE G. KALISHER, et al., AMENDED COMPLAINT; AND 7 DENYING HIS REQUEST FOR Defendants. APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 8 9 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, filed the instant pro se prisoner complaint under 42 U.S.C. 10 § 1983. Before the Court are Plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time to file his amended 11 complaint as well as his motion for appointment of counsel. Dkt. 9. 12 I. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE HIS AMENDED COMPLAINT 13 The Court has dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint with leave to amend. Plaintiff has filed a 14 request for extension of time to file his amended complaint. Dkt. 9. He requests an “extension of 15 time or stay of proceedings until the COVID-19 crisis is over . . . .” Id. at 1. 16 Good cause appearing, the request is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiff’s 17 request for an indefinite stay of proceedings is DENIED, but his request for an extension of time 18 due to the current COVID-19 crisis is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall file his amended complaint on 19 or by October 9, 2020. Plaintiff shall inform the Court if a further extension is required in light of 20 the current public health situation, and he shall provide documents showing the programming 21 changes in the prison related to COVID-19, instead of simply mentioning the “COVID-19 crisis” 22 as the reason for the request for an extension of the deadlines. If Plaintiff fails to file an 23 amended complaint by the deadline above or fails to request a further extension, this action 24 will be dismissed without prejudice. 25 II. MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 26 Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED for want of exceptional 27 circumstances. See Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997); see also Lassiter v. 1 Dep’t of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981) (there is no constitutional right to counsel in a 2 || civil case). This denial is without prejudice to the Court’s sua sponte appointment of counsel at a 3 || future date should the circumstances of this case warrant such appointment. 4 This Order terminates Docket No. 9. 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 || Dated: September 4, 2020 7 VONNE GONZALEZ ROGER 8 United States District Judge 9 10 11 12 13 © 15 16 = 17 Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28