Gipbsin v. Mccumber et al

Filing 29

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 11/18/16 ordering petitioner's motion to proceed in forma pauperis 24 is granted. Petitioner's motion for appointment of counsel 2 , 8 , 22 , 25 and 26 are denied without prejudice to a renewal of the motion at a later stage of the proceedings. Petitioner shall refrain from filing multiple requests for the same relief. Any such duplicative filings will be disregarded. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CLARENCE A. GIPBSIN,

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Petitioner,

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No. 2:16-cv-1590 MCE AC P

v.

ORDER

MCCUMBER, Warden, et al.,

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Respondents.

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Petitioner, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has filed a petition for a writ of habeas

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corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, together with an application to proceed in forma pauperis.
Examination of the in forma pauperis application reveals that petitioner is unable to afford

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the costs of suit. ECF No. 24. Accordingly, the application to proceed in forma pauperis will be

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granted. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).
Petitioner has also filed five motions requesting the appointment of counsel. ECF Nos. 2,

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8, 22, 25, 26. There currently exists no absolute right to appointment of counsel in habeas

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proceedings. See Nevius v. Sumner, 105 F.3d 453, 460 (9th Cir. 1996). However, 18 U.S.C.

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§ 3006A authorizes the appointment of counsel at any stage of the case “if the interests of justice

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so require.” See Rule 8(c), Fed. R. Governing § 2254 Cases. In the present case, the court has

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yet to screen the petition to determine whether it states a claim for relief and therefore does not

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find that the interests of justice would be served by the appointment of counsel at the present

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time.

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In addition to his multiple requests for counsel, petitioner has filed multiple requests for

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recall and resentencing (ECF Nos. 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, and 28), the same relief he seeks

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in his petition (ECF No. 1 at 13). Petitioner shall cease filing multiple requests for the same

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relief. While the court understands that petitioner may be frustrated by the delays in the

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processing of his case, he is advised that the Eastern District of California maintains one of the

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heaviest caseloads in the nation, a significant portion of which is comprised of pro se inmate

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cases. This sometimes causes unavoidable delays in the resolution of individual matters, and

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petitioner’s continued filing of duplicative requests does nothing but further slow the court’s

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ability to address his case.

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In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 24) is granted;

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2. Petitioner’s motions for appointment of counsel (ECF No’s 2, 8, 22, 25 and 26) are

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denied without prejudice to a renewal of the motion at a later stage of the proceedings; and
3. Petitioner shall refrain from filing multiple requests for the same relief. Any such

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duplicative filings will be disregarded.

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DATED: November 18, 2016.

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