Freeman v. Woolston et al

Filing 19

MINUTE ORDER. The plaintiffs Motion for Appointment of Counsel 10 is denied without prejudice. The plaintiffs letter motion requesting to have the summons issued on all parties/defendants 17 is denied as moot. By Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe on 9/19/2011.(sah, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 11-cv-01756-DME-MJW
MARCUS LELAND FREEMAN,
Plaintiff,
v.
WOOLSTON, Vocational Instructor, and
LIKEN, Education Department,
Defendants.
MINUTE ORDER
Entered by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe
It is hereby ORDERED that the plaintiff’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel
(Docket No. 10) is denied without prejudice. Counsel cannot be appointed and paid
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), but the court has broad discretion to direct the Clerk
of Court to attempt to obtain volunteer counsel for a party in a civil case. See Murphy v.
Colorado Dept. of Corrections, 2009 WL 2959205 (D. Colo. Sept. 10, 2009) (citing
DiCesare v. Stuart, 12 F.3d 973, 979 (10th Cir. 1993)). When making such a decision,
the court “should consider a variety of factors, including the merits of the litigant’s
claims, the nature of the factual issues raised in the claims, the litigant’s ability to
present his claims, and the complexity of the legal issues raised by the claims.” Long v.
Shillinger, 927 F.2d 525, 527 (10th Cir. 1991). Having considered the current record in
this case, the court finds that, even assuming the plaintiff has a colorable claim, he
currently appears to be able to present his case adequately. The factual and legal
issues raised are not so numerous or complex that the plaintiff is unable to present his
case adequately at this early stage of the litigation.
It is further ORDERED that the plaintiff’s letter motion requesting to have the
summons issued on all parties/defendants (Docket No. 17) is denied as moot. On
September 9, 2011, Judge Ebel issued an Order Granting Service by United States
Marshal (Docket No. 16).
Date: September 19, 2011