MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL: Coutu

Filing 4

Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton: ORDER entered denying 1 Motion to Appoint Counsel. Accordingly, the motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to renewal if and when Coutu files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under § 2254. The clerk shall provide Coutu with a form petition. This matter is DISMISSED. (copy of order and form 2254 petition mailed to Mr. Coutu on 4/11/2017). (PSSA, 3)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN RE DAVID DANIEL COUTU
(Motion for Appointment of
Counsel)

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Case. No.
17-mc-91093-NMG

ORDER
GORTON, J.
For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies the
movant’s request for appointment of counsel.
On April 3, 2017, David Daniel Coutu (“Coutu”) filed with
this Court a

motion for the appointment of counsel under the

Criminal Justice Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3006A and a financial affidavit
in support thereof.

Coutu, a prisoner confined at MCI Shirley,

asks that the Court appoint an attorney to represent him in a
habeas proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (“§ 2254”).

He did not

file a habeas petition with his motion and he does not have
another action pending in this Court.
The Court denies the motion without prejudice.

Before the

Court can appoint counsel for a proceeding under § 2254, Coutu
must file a § 2254 habeas petition.

If, upon review of the

petition and Coutu’s financial affidavit, the Court determines
that he is “financially eligible” and that the “the interests of
justice so require,” 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2), the Court may
appoint counsel.1
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In addition, if the Court decides to conduct

In determining whether the interests of justice require the
appointment of counsel, the Court must examine the totality of
the circumstances, focusing on whether the petitioner has
presented a colorable claim, the complexity of the legal issues,
the intricacy of any factual issues, and the petitioner’s ability
to represent himself. See United States v. Guadalupe-Quinones,

an evidentiary hearing on the petition, counsel must be
appointed.

See Rule 8(c) of the Rules Governing Section 2254

Cases (“If an evidentiary hearing is warranted, the judge must
appoint an attorney to represent a petitioner who qualifies to
have counsel appointed under 18 U.S.C. § 3006A.”).
Accordingly, the motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED
WITHOUT PREJUDICE to renewal if and when Coutu files a petition
for a writ of habeas corpus under § 2254.
provide Coutu with a form petition.

The clerk shall

This matter is DISMISSED.

So ordered.
/s/ Nathaniel M. Gorton
Nathaniel M. Gorton
United States District Judge
Dated: 4/10/17

65 Fed. Appx. 329, 333 (1st Cir. 2003); Abdullah v. Norris, 18
F.3d 571, 573 (8th Cir. 1994).
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