Griswold v. Britten

Filing 26

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - The petitioner's motion to appoint counsel 21 , motion for hearing regarding motion to appoint counsel 24 , and motion in support of hearing 25 are denied. Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (Copy mailed to pro se party) (KBJ)

-PRSE Griswold v. Britten

Doc. 26

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA RICHARD A. GRISWOLD, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) ) TECUMSEH STATE CORRECTIONAL ) INSTITUTION, ) ) Respondent. ) ______________________________)

8:10CV55

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on petitioner's motion to appoint counsel (Filing No. 23), motion for hearing regarding his motion to appoint counsel (Filing No. 24), and motion in support of a hearing (Filing No. 25). Petitioner seeks the appointment of counsel for the third time in this matter. (See Filing Nos. 3, 21 and 23.) As

the Court previously informed petitioner, "there 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 As a general rule,

754, 756 (8th Cir. 1997) (citations omitted).

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);

Dockets.Justia.com

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 (Filing No. 21), motion for hearing regarding motion to appoint counsel (Filing No. 24), and motion in support of hearing (Filing No. 25) are denied. DATED this 2nd day of July, 2010. BY THE COURT: /s/ Lyle E. Strom ____________________________ LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge United States District Court

*This opinion may contain hyperlinks to other documents or Web sites. The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska does not endorse, r e c o m m e n d , approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services or products t h e y provide on their Web sites. Likewise, the Court has no agreements with a n y of these third parties or their Web sites. The Court accepts no r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for the availability or functionality of any hyperlink. Thus, t h e fact that a hyperlink ceases to work or directs the user to some other s i t e does not affect the opinion of the Court.
-2-