Consiglio v. Brown et al

Filing 37

ORDER Denying Plaintiff's Second 34 Motion to Appoint Counsel, without Prejudice; ORDER Directing Clerk's Office to Provide Copies, and Granting Plaintiff Extension of Time to Respond to Motion to Dismiss signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 02/23/2018. Thirty-Day Deadline. (Flores, E)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 SAM CONSIGLIO, JR., 9 Plaintiff, 10 v. 11 EDMUND G. BROWN, et al., 12 Defendants. 13 14 15 16 17 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 1:16-cv-01268-AWI-SAB (PC) ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S SECOND MOTION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL, WITHOUT PREJUDICE [ECF No. 34] ORDER DIRECTING CLERK’S OFFICE TO PROVIDE COPIES, AND GRANTING PLAINTIFF EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO MOTION TO DISMISS THIRTY (30) DAY DEADLINE Plaintiff Sam Consiglio, Jr., is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 18 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s second motion for the appointment of counsel filed on 19 February 20, 2018. (ECF No. 34.) In support of his request, Plaintiff states that he understands his 20 response to Defendant Price’s motion to dismiss is due, as he has been granted several extensions of 21 time to oppose it. However, all of his flash drives and hard drives were confiscated, and his legal 22 documents were on the flash drives and hard drives. Plaintiff states that he requires counsel based on 23 the confiscation of his legal documents from this case, and if his request for counsel is denied, he 24 requires copies of the case filings in this matter. 25 As Plaintiff was previously informed, he not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in 26 this action, Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), rev’d in part on other grounds, 154 27 F.3d 952, 954 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998), and the court cannot require an attorney to represent plaintiff 28 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 1 1 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances, the court may request the voluntary 2 assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. 3 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the Court will seek 4 volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether “exceptional 5 circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on the merits [and] 6 the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues 7 involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 8 Here, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. The record reflects that 9 Plaintiff is able to adequately articulate his claim, and the issues raised here are not particularly 10 complex. Furthermore, at this early stage in the proceedings, the Court cannot make a determination 11 that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits. That Plaintiff’s flash drives and hard drives containing 12 his legal documents were recently confiscated is not sufficient to require that he be appointed counsel 13 in this matter, although this Court will address this matter further below given Plaintiff’s assertions. 14 Ordinarily, a plaintiff’s request for free copies of filings would be denied. Although the Court 15 has granted leave for him to proceed in forma pauperis, this generally does not entitle him to free 16 copies of documents from the Court. E.g., Hullom v. Kent, 262 F.2d 862, 863 (6th Cir. 1959). The 17 Clerk charges $.50 per page for copies of documents. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(b). Copies of up to twenty 18 pages may be made by the Clerk’s Office at this Court upon written request, prepayment of the copy 19 fees, and submission of a large, self-addressed stamped envelope. 20 However, in the interests of justice and to avoid any further delay in this case, the Court will 21 make a one-time exception and grant Plaintiff a copy of his complaint in this matter, (ECF No. 1), and 22 a copy of Defendant Price’s motion to dismiss the complaint, (ECF No. 26). The Clerk of the Court 23 will be directed to make the copies and serve them on Plaintiff with this order, which will enable him 24 to prepare an opposition to Defendant Price’s motion to dismiss. The Court will also grant Plaintiff 25 one final thirty (30) day extension of time to file his opposition to Defendant Price’s motion to 26 dismiss, on the basis of good cause shown. 27 /// 28 /// 2 1 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 2 1. 3 Plaintiff’s motion requesting the appointment of counsel, filed on February 20, 2018 (ECF No. 34), is HEREBY DENIED, without prejudice; 2. 4 Plaintiff’s request for copies is granted, in part. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully 5 directed to make one (1) copy of the complaint filed on August 26, 2016 (ECF No. 1), and one (1) 6 copy of Defendant Price’s motion to dismiss, with supporting documents, filed on December 19, 2017 7 (ECF Nos. 26, 26-1, 26-1, and 26-3), and serve the copies on Plaintiff with this order; and Plaintiff’s response to Defendant Price’s motion to dismiss is due within thirty (30) 8 3. 9 days of this order. 10 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: 13 February 23, 2018 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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