Moussa v. NH State Prison, Warden

Filing 9

ORDER denying without prejudice 3 Motion to Appoint Counsel. So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Landya B. McCafferty.(gla)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
Saad Moussa
v.

Civil No. 12-cv-015-JL

Warden, New Hampshire State Prison
O R D E R
Saad Moussa has filed a petition for a writ of habeas
corpus in this court (doc. no. 1).

Before the court is Moussa’s

motion to appoint counsel (doc. no. 3).

Moussa seeks court-

appointed counsel on the grounds that he is indigent, and
therefore unable to afford to retain counsel, because English is
his second language and he does not speak it well, and because
he has unspecified mental and physical health issues.
There is no constitutional right to the appointment of
counsel in a civil case in this court.

See Maroni v. Pemi-Baker

Reg’l Sch. Dist., 346 F.3d 247, 257 (1st Cir. 2003).

While the

court has the discretion to appoint counsel in a particular
case, it should do so “only if ‘exceptional circumstances were
present such that a denial of counsel was likely to result in
fundamental unfairness impinging on [plaintiff’s] due process
rights.’”

King v. Greenblatt, 149 F.3d 9, 14 (1st Cir. 1998)

(quoting DesRosiers v. Moran, 949 F.2d 15, 23 (1st Cir. 1991)).
To determine if “exceptional circumstances” warrant the

appointment of counsel, “a court must examine the total
situation, focusing, inter alia, on the merits of the case, the
complexity of the legal issues, and the litigant’s ability to
represent himself.”

DesRosiers, 949 F.2d at 24.

Moussa has failed to establish the existence of exceptional
circumstances warranting the appointment of counsel in this
case.

Moussa’s pleadings, to date, have been clear, effective,

and well-prepared, and demonstrate that he understands the
proceedings.

There is no reason at this time to believe that

Moussa will be unable to adequately represent himself in this
matter.

Accordingly, Moussa’s motion for appointed counsel

(doc. no. 3) is denied without prejudice to Moussa renewing his
request should circumstances warrant.
SO ORDERED.

_________________________________
Landya McCafferty
United States Magistrate Judge
Date:
cc:

March 15, 2012

Saad Moussa, pro se

LBM:jba

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