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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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 5 6 7 MARVIN KRONA, Plaintiff, 8 9 10 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. 11 12 13 This is a civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This matter comes before the 14 Court at the present time on plaintiff’s motions for an attorney and for a continuance of the deadline 15 to file his amended complaint. The Court, having reviewed plaintiff’s motions, and the balance of 16 the record, hereby finds and ORDERS as follows: 17 (1) Plaintiff’s motion for an attorney (Dkt. 9) is DENIED. There is no right to have 18 counsel appointed in cases brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Although the Court, under 28 U.S.C. 19 § 1915(e)(1), can request counsel to represent a party proceeding in forma pauperis, the Court may 20 do so only in exceptional circumstances. Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 21 1986); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1236 (9th Cir. 1984); Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089 22 (9th Cir. 1980). A finding of exceptional circumstances requires an evaluation of both the 23 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 1 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Wilborn, 789 F.2d at 1331. 2 While the Court has determined that plaintiff’s complaint is deficient and must therefore 3 be amended if he wishes to proceed with this action, plaintiff gives no indication that he lacks the 4 ability to articulate his claims pro se. As for plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits of his 5 claims, the record is not yet sufficiently developed for this Court to make such a determination. 6 Based on the information available to the Court at this juncture, this Court must conclude that 7 plaintiff has not demonstrated that his case involves exceptional circumstances which warrant the 8 appointment of counsel. 9 (2) Plaintiff’s motion for a continuance of the deadline to file his amended complaint 10 (Dkt. 9) is GRANTED. Plaintiff indicates that he requires additional time to file his amended 11 complaint because the prison law librarian is only available once each week to make copies or to 12 do electronic filing. Plaintiff does not indicate in his motion how much additional time he requires 13 to file his amended pleading, but it appears that under the circumstances noted by plaintiff an 14 additional thirty days should be sufficient. Accordingly, plaintiff is granted a continuance until 15 July 10, 2017 to file his amended complaint. If plaintiff fails to file an amended complaint by this 16 deadline, the Court will recommend that this action be dismissed. 17 (3) 18 Richard A. Jones. 19 The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to plaintiff and to the Honorable DATED this 8th day of June, 2017. 20 A 21 Mary Alice Theiler United States Magistrate Judge 22 23 ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR AN ATTORNEY - 2

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