Cochran v. Aguirre, et al.

Filing 51

ORDER DENYING Without Prejudice, Plaintiff's Fifth 50 Motion to Appoint Counsel, signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 9/14/16. (Marrujo, C)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BILLY COY COCHRAN, 12 Plaintiff, 13 14 v. E. AGUIRRE, 15 Defendant. 16 ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE, PLAINTIFF’S FIFTH MOTION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL [ECF No. 50] § 1983. Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s fifth motion for the appointment of voluntary counsel, 19 20 Case No.: 1:15-cv-01092-AWI-SAB (PC) Plaintiff Billy Coy Cochran is appearing pro se in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 17 18 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) filed September 12, 2016. 21 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 22 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require any attorney to represent 23 plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern 24 District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the court 25 may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 26 1525. 27 /// 28 /// 1 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will seek 1 2 volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 3 “exceptional circumstances exist, the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on the 4 merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 5 legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). The test for exceptional circumstances requires the Court to evaluate the Plaintiff’s likelihood 6 7 of success on the merits and the ability of the Plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 8 complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 9 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Plaintiff has not demonstrated new or 10 different circumstances to merit appointment of counsel in this case, and Plaintiff simply presents the 11 same arguments previously considered by the Court in denying his prior motions for appointment of 12 counsel. Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law 13 library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary 14 assistance of counsel. Furthermore, appointment of counsel is not necessary for the parties to conduct 15 effective discovery. In the present case, the Court does not find the required exceptional 16 circumstances. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s fifth motion for appointment of counsel will be DENIED 17 without prejudice. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 Dated: 21 September 14, 2016 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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