Moralez v. Chappell
Filing
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Order by Hon. William H. Orrick denying 29 Motion to Appoint Counsel. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate/Proof of Service) (jmdS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/22/2016)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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RUDOLPH HERRERA MORALEZ,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No. 15-cv-02457-WHO (PR)
DENYING MOTION FOR THE
APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL
RON DAVIS,
Defendant.
Dkt. No. 29
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Plaintiff Rudolph Moralez moves for the appointment of counsel to represent him in
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this civil rights action. (Dkt. No. 39.) He alleges that he has a learning disability and has
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been able to file this motion only through the assistance of another inmate. He also asserts
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that he will be better served if counsel is appointed. His prior motion for the appointment
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of counsel (Dkt. No. 22) was denied. (Dkt. No. 24.)
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The decision to request counsel to represent an indigent litigant under 28 U.S.C.
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§ 1915 is within “the sound discretion of the trial court and is granted only in exceptional
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circumstances.” Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1236 (9th Cir. 1984). A finding of
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“exceptional circumstances” requires an evaluation of the likelihood of the plaintiff’s
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success on the merits and an evaluation of the plaintiff’s ability to articulate his claims pro
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se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Agyeman v. Corrections
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Corp. of America, 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004). Neither the need for discovery,
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nor the fact that the pro se litigant would be better served with the assistance of counsel,
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necessarily qualify the issues involved as complex. See Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520,
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1525 (9th Cir. 1997).
In the Ninth Circuit, roughly one-third of new civil litigants in district court are not
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represented by counsel. United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit, 2014 Annual Report 39
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(2015), available at http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/publications/AnnualReport2014.pdf.
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Most, but by no means all, of these litigants are incarcerated. There is no doubt that not
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having a lawyer puts a party at a disadvantage in our adversarial system of justice, and the
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high percentage of civil litigants who cannot afford one threatens our ability to dispense
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equal justice to rich and poor alike, as the judicial oath demands. That said, I am
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compelled to follow controlling precedent and determine if “exceptional circumstances”
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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exist to appoint counsel in the cases before me.
At least at this stage of the proceedings, Moralez has not shown that exceptional
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circumstances exist. Many of the reasons he lists for appointment of counsel, such as that
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he would be better served by counsel, are all too common circumstances for prisoner-
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plaintiffs. Furthermore, Moralez has ably prosecuted his action thus far. He has been able
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to file with the Court many articulate, reasoned motions (including the present motion for
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the appointment of counsel) and other documents (such as several amended complaints)
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and to respond adequately to the defendants’ filings.
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Accordingly, Moralez’s motion to appoint counsel is DENIED. When I review a
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motion for summary judgment in these cases, and can evaluate Moralez’s likelihood of
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success on the merits, I will reconsider the necessity of appointing counsel.
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The Clerk shall terminate Dkt. No. 29.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: September 22, 2016
_________________________
WILLIAM H. ORRICK
United States District Judge
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