Blackmon v. Benavides et al

Filing 10

ORDER DENYING 9 Motion to Appoint Counsel signed by Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin on 1/19/2017. (Jessen, A)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 13 14 15 1:16-cv-01773-GSA-PC TED BLACKMON, Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL v. (Document# 9) SGT. J. BENAVIDES, et al., Defendants. 16 17 On January 12, 2017, Plaintiff filed a motion seeking the appointment of counsel. 18 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. Rowland, 19 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court cannot require an attorney to represent 20 plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. United States District Court for the 21 Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298, 109 S.Ct. 1814, 1816 (1989). However, in certain 22 exceptional circumstances the court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 23 section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. 24 25 26 27 28 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will seek volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether Aexceptional circumstances exist, the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success of the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.@ Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 1 1 In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. At this 2 early stage in the proceedings, the court cannot make a determination that Plaintiff is likely to 3 succeed on the merits. Plaintiff filed the Complaint on November 22, 2016, less than two months 4 ago, and the Complaint awaits the court=s screening required under 28 U.S.C. 1915. Thus, to date 5 the Court has not found any cognizable claims in Plaintiff=s Complaint for which to initiate 6 7 8 9 service of process, and no other parties have yet appeared. Moreover, based on a review of the record in this case, the Court finds that Plaintiff cannot adequately articulate his claims. Therefore, Plaintiff=s motion shall be denied without prejudice to renewal of the motion at a later stage of the proceedings. For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff=s motion for the appointment of counsel is HEREBY 10 DENIED, without prejudice. 11 12 13 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: January 19, 2017 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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