Krona v. DOC et al

Filing 10

ORDER granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's 9 Motions; plaintiff's motion for an attorney 9 is denied and plaintiff's motion for a continuance 9 is granted. Plaintiff shall file an amended complaint by 7/10/17 signed by Hon. Mary Alice Theiler.**2 PAGE(S), PRINT ALL**(Marvin Krona, Prisoner ID: 908843)(RS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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MARVIN KRONA,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. C17-0404-RAJ-MAT
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION FOR AN ATTORNEY AND
GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR A CONTINUANCE

v.
D.O.C., et al.,
Defendants.

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This is a civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This matter comes before the

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Court at the present time on plaintiff’s motions for an attorney and for a continuance of the deadline

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to file his amended complaint. The Court, having reviewed plaintiff’s motions, and the balance of

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the record, hereby finds and ORDERS as follows:

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(1)

Plaintiff’s motion for an attorney (Dkt. 9) is DENIED. There is no right to have

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counsel appointed in cases brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Although the Court, under 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(e)(1), can request counsel to represent a party proceeding in forma pauperis, the Court may

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do so only in exceptional circumstances. Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir.

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1986); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1236 (9th Cir. 1984); Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089

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(9th Cir. 1980). A finding of exceptional circumstances requires an evaluation of both the

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likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR AN ATTORNEY - 1

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light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Wilborn, 789 F.2d at 1331.

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While the Court has determined that plaintiff’s complaint is deficient and must therefore

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be amended if he wishes to proceed with this action, plaintiff gives no indication that he lacks the

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ability to articulate his claims pro se. As for plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits of his

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claims, the record is not yet sufficiently developed for this Court to make such a determination.

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Based on the information available to the Court at this juncture, this Court must conclude that

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plaintiff has not demonstrated that his case involves exceptional circumstances which warrant the

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appointment of counsel.

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(2)

Plaintiff’s motion for a continuance of the deadline to file his amended complaint

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(Dkt. 9) is GRANTED. Plaintiff indicates that he requires additional time to file his amended

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complaint because the prison law librarian is only available once each week to make copies or to

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do electronic filing. Plaintiff does not indicate in his motion how much additional time he requires

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to file his amended pleading, but it appears that under the circumstances noted by plaintiff an

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additional thirty days should be sufficient. Accordingly, plaintiff is granted a continuance until

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July 10, 2017 to file his amended complaint. If plaintiff fails to file an amended complaint by this

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deadline, the Court will recommend that this action be dismissed.

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(3)

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Richard A. Jones.

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The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to plaintiff and to the Honorable

DATED this 8th day of June, 2017.

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A

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Mary Alice Theiler
United States Magistrate Judge

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ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR AN ATTORNEY - 2