Matthies v. Houston
Filing
7
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - IT IS ORDERED that petitioner's Motion to AppointCounsel 4 is denied. Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (Copy mailed to pro se party)(TCL )
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
GREGORY M. MATTHIES,
)
)
Petitioner,
)
)
v.
)
)
ROBERT HOUSTON,
)
)
Respondent.
)
______________________________)
4:12CV3069
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on petitioner’s Motion
to Appoint Counsel (Filing No. 4).
“[T]here is neither a
constitutional nor statutory right to counsel in habeas
proceedings; instead, [appointment of counsel] is committed to
the discretion of the trial court.”
McCall v. Benson, 114 F.3d
754, 756 (8th Cir. 1997) (citations omitted).
As a general rule,
counsel will not be appointed unless the case is unusually
complex or the petitioner’s ability to investigate and articulate
the claims is unusually impaired or an evidentiary hearing is
required.
See, e.g., Morris v. Dormire, 217 F.3d 556, 558-59
(8th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 984 (2000); Hoggard v.
Purkett, 29 F.3d 469, 471 (8th Cir. 1994) (citations omitted);
see also Rule 8(c) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in
the United States District Courts (requiring appointment of
counsel if an evidentiary hearing is warranted).
Upon review of
the pleadings and petitioner’s motion, there is no need for the
appointment of counsel at this time.
IT IS ORDERED that petitioner’s Motion to Appoint
Counsel is denied.
DATED this 15th day of June, 2012.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Lyle E. Strom
____________________________
LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge
United States District Court
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