Donelson v. Shearing et al

Filing 256

ORDER DENYING Appeal of Magistrate Judge Decision to District Court by Charles Donelson re 248 Order Assigning Attorney, Order on Motion for Recruitment of Counsel filed by Charles Donelson (Doc. 252 ). Signed by Judge Staci M. Yandle on 7/14/2017. (mah)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

CHARLES DONELSON,
Plaintiff,
vs.
DR. SHEARING, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 15-CV-95-SMY-RJD

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff Charles Donelson’s Appeal of Magistrate Judge Decision
(Doc. 252). Plaintiff appeals Magistrate Judge Daly’s ruling appointing him stand-by counsel
for trial purposes only. For the following reasons, Plaintiff’s motion is DENIED and Judge
Daly’s ruling is AFFIRMED.
In reviewing a magistrate judge’s ruling on a non-dispositive matter, a district judge
should not disturb the ruling unless it is contrary to law or clearly erroneous. 28 U.S.C. §
636(b)(1)(A); FED. R. CIV. P. 72(a); SDIL-LR 73.1(a). There is no constitutional or statutory
right to court-appointed counsel in a federal civil case. See Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647, 649
(7th Cir. 2007). Based on Plaintiff’s documented inability to work with recruited counsel, Judge
Daly declined to recruit a second counsel to represent Plaintiff for his upcoming trial. Instead,
Judge Daly appointed standby counsel for trial purposes only to assist Plaintiff as procedural
issues arise during trial. As Plaintiff has no constitutional or statutory right to court-appointed
counsel, Judge Daly’s ruling was neither clearly erroneous nor contrary to law. Accordingly,
Plaintiff’s appeal is denied.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: July 14, 2017
s/ Staci M. Yandle
STACI M. YANDLE
United States District Judge

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