Alfonso Hall v. Smith et al

Filing 27

ORDER DENYING 24 Motion for Appointment of Temporary Counsel in Order to Identify Defendant Does 1-4 signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on 11/17/2017. (Sant Agata, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ALFONSO HALL,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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D. SMITH, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Case No. 1:15-cv-00860-BAM (PC)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY
COUNSEL IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY
DEFENDANT DOES 1-4
(ECF No. 24)

Plaintiff Alfonso Hall is state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil
rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

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Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of temporary counsel, filed

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on November 16, 2017. (ECF No. 24.) Plaintiff seeks temporary counsel to assist him with identifying

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Doe defendants 1-4 in this action. Plaintiff declares in support that he is unable to afford counsel.

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Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action. Rand v.

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Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), rev’d in part on other grounds, 154 F.3d 952, 954 n.1

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(9th Cir. 1998). The court cannot require an attorney to represent plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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§1915(e)(1). Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However,

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in certain exceptional circumstances the court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel

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pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. Without a reasonable method of securing and

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compensating counsel, the court will seek volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional

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cases. In determining whether “exceptional circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the

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likelihood of success on the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in
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light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations

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omitted).

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In this case, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances for the appointment

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of counsel. Even if it is assumed that Plaintiff is not well versed in the law and that he has made

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serious allegations which, if proved, would entitle him to relief, his case is not exceptional. A review

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of the record in this case shows that Plaintiff is able to articulate his claims and arguments, and the

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legal issue he proceeds upon is not complex. Furthermore, at this stage in the proceedings, the Court

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cannot make a determination that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits.

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As has been explained to Plaintiff, he carries the burden to discover the identity of Doe

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defendants 1-4 and to amend his complaint to substitute their names. Plaintiff may be able to locate

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names from incident reports, Rules Violation Reports, his central file, or other documents available for

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Plaintiff to review. If Plaintiff is unable to locate the identifying information he requires through his

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own requests or searches, he may seek leave to issue discovery that is reasonable and necessary to

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locate information relevant to properly identifying Doe defendants 1-4. Before discovery will be

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permitted, Plaintiff will be required to identify the steps he took to locate the identities of the Doe

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defendants.

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For these reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for the temporary appointment of counsel, (ECF No. 24),
is HEREBY DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

/s/ Barbara

November 17, 2017

A. McAuliffe

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UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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