Opinion
2:17-cv-02101-JAD-CWH
12-07-2017
Patrick Edward Wilcock, Petitioner v. Jo Gentry, et al., Defendants
Order Screening Petition and Granting Motion for Appointment of Counsel
[ECF Nos. 1-1, 2, 3]
Pro se petitioner Patrick Wilcock is serving a 44-years-to-life sentence after he was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary with a deadly weapon, robbery, possession of stolen property, and two deadly weapon enhancements. Now he petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that his due-process, equal-protection, fair-trial, and effective-assistance-of-counsel rights were violated during his trial. He has paid the filing fee, I have screened his petition, and the petition will be docketed and served on respondents. If Wilock failed to include a claim for relief in his petition, then he may be forever barred from seeking federal habeas relief on that claim.
ECF No. 1-1 at 2; NEVADA DEP'T OF CORRECTIONS, https://doc.nv.gov/Inmates/Home/ (last visited Dec. 6, 2017) (inmate search by name Patrick Wilcock or by offender ID 1099336).
ECF No. 1-1.
See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b) (2012) (successive petitions).
Wilcock also moves for appointment of counsel. There is no constitutional right to appointed counsel for a federal habeas corpus proceeding. The decision to appoint counsel is generally discretionary. But counsel must be appointed if the claims are so complex and the petitioner is so uneducated that denying counsel would amount to a denial of due process. Wilcock is serving a 44-years-to-life sentence, and some of the legal issues that he wishes to raise may be complex, so I grant his motion.
ECF No. 2.
Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 555 (1987); Bonin v. Vasquez, 999 F.2d 425, 428 (9th Cir. 1993).
Chaney v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 1986); Bashor v. Risley, 730 F.2d 1228, 1234 (9th Cir. 1984).
See Chaney, 801 F.2d at 1196; see also Hawkins v. Bennett, 423 F.2d 948 (8th Cir. 1970). --------
Accordingly, the Clerk of Court is directed to DETACH and FILE Wilock's petition [ECF No. 1-1] and ELECTRONICALLY SERVE it on the respondents. The Clerk of Court is also directed to ADD Adam Paul Laxalt, Nevada Attorney General, as counsel for respondents.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Wilcock's motion for appointment of counsel [ECF No. 2] is GRANTED. The Federal Public Defender (FPD) for the District of Nevada is appointed to represent Wilcock.
The Clerk of Court is directed to ELECTRONICALLY SERVE the FPD a copy of this order, together with a copy of the petition for a writ of habeas corpus [ECF No. 1-1]. The FPD has until January 5, 2018, to file a notice of appearance or to indicate to the court its inability to represent Wilcock in these proceedings.
After counsel for Wilcock has appeared, the court will issue a scheduling order that will, among other things, set a deadline for the filing of an amended petition.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Wilcock's motion for leave to file excess pages [ECF No. 3] is GRANTED.
DATED: December 7, 2017.
/s/_________
U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey