Turner v. Reno Police Department ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 * * * 4 KERRY TURNER, Case No. 2:24-cv-01516-CDS-EJY 5 Plaintiff, 6 v. ORDER 7 RENO POLICE DEPARTMENT, et al., 8 Defendants. 9 10 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion seeking appointment of counsel. ECF No. 11 14. As a general proposition, a civil litigant has no right to counsel. Lassiter v. Department of 12 Social Services of Durham County, 452 U.S. 18 (1981); Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 13 (9th Cir. 1981). A court may under “exceptional circumstances” appoint counsel for indigent civil 14 litigants pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Agyeman v. Corrs. Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 15 1103 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. denied sub nom. Gerber v. Agyeman, 545 U.S. 1128 (2005). When 16 determining whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, a court must consider “the likelihood of 17 success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to articulate his claims pro se in light 18 of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 19 1983). The Court finds Plaintiff’s Motion does not demonstrate complexity of legal issues and a 20 review of the case does not support a likelihood of success on the merits. 21 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion seeking appointment of 22 counsel (ECF No. 14) is DENIED. 23 DATED this 22nd day of October, 2024. 24 25 ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28