Mora v. California Correctional Center

Filing 53

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 11/09/17 DENYING 50 Motion to Appoint Counsel and GRANTING 51 Motion for Extension of time. Plaintiff is granted 30 days from the date of this order in which to file and serve an opposition to defendants' motion for summary judgment. Any reply shall be filed and served in accordance with Local Rule 230(l). (Plummer, M)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ERIC MORA, 11 Plaintiff, 12 13 No. 2:14-cv-0581 KJM DB P v. ORDER ZACK EATON, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 16 17 appointment of counsel and an extension of time to respond to defendants' motion for summary 18 judgment. Plaintiff states that he requires the appointment of counsel because he cannot afford to 19 20 hire one, the issues in his case are complex, he will have difficulty marshaling evidence because 21 he is incarcerated, he may suffer retaliation if he conducts an investigation, and he has limited 22 education. (ECF No. 50.) The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack 23 authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United 24 States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district 25 court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell 26 v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 27 (9th Cir. 1990). 28 //// 1 1 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 2 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 3 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 4 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 5 common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 6 establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 7 counsel. In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 8 9 10 Plaintiff has also requested a second extension of time to file an opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 51.) Good cause appearing, this request will be granted. 11 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 12 1. Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 50) is denied; 13 2. Plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 51) is granted; and 14 3. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of this order in which to file and serve an 15 opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Any reply shall be filed and served in 16 accordance with Local Rule 230(l). 17 Dated: November 9, 2017 18 19 20 21 22 DLB:9 DB/orders/prisoner-civil rights/mora0581.31+36sec.opp 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?