Segura v. Felker et al

Filing 11

ORDER signed by Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber on 1/22/2009 DENYING 3 Motion to Appoint Counsel by Lorenzo Segura. (Reader, L)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 LORENZO SEGURA, 12 13 vs. 14 T. FELKER, Warden, et al., 15 Defendants. Plaintiff, No. CIV S-08-2137-SPG (PC) ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

16 ________________________________/ 17 On September 11, 2008, Plaintiff filed a motion seeking the appointment of

18 counsel. Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v. 19 Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), withdrawn in part on other grounds by 154 F.3d 20 952, 954 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc), and the court cannot require a lawyer to represent plaintiff 21 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 22 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the court may request the 23 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to § 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. 24 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the court will

25 seek volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 26 "exceptional circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success of 27 the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity 28 of the legal issues involved." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). -1PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com

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In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances.

2 Even if it is assumed that Plaintiff is not well versed in the law and that he has made serious 3 allegations which, if proved, would entitle him to relief, his case is not exceptional. Similar cases 4 come to the court regularly. In addition, at this early stage in the proceedings, the court cannot 5 make a determination that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits and, based on a review of the 6 record in this case, the court does not find that Plaintiff cannot adequately articulate his claims. 7 Id. 8 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff's motion for the appointment of counsel is

9 HEREBY DENIED, without prejudice. 10 11 12 13 Dated: 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com January 22, 2009 /s/ Susan P. Graber UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE IT IS SO ORDERED.