Ayala v. Andreasen

Full title: MANUEL AYALA, Plaintiff, v. ANDREASEN, et al., Defendants

Court: United States District Court, E.D. California

Date published: Jan 7, 2008

No. CIV S-04-0903-RRB-CMK-P (E.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2008)

Opinion

No. CIV S-04-0903-RRB-CMK-P.

January 7, 2008

ORDER

CRAIG KELLISON, Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court are: (1) plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (Doc. 87); and (2) plaintiff's motion for copies of the entire court file in this matter (Doc. 89).

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. See Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). See Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). In the present case, the court does not at this time find the required exceptional circumstances.

As to plaintiff's request for a copy of the entire court file, plaintiff states that he has been separated from his legal materials incident to a prison transfer on December 20, 2007. Plaintiff states that he will not have access to his materials in time to prepare for trial, which he believes is scheduled to begin on January 22, 2008. Plaintiff is in error as to the date for commencement of trial in this case. Specifically, on June 28, 2007, the court vacated the due dates for pre-trial statements and also vacated the trial date. Currently, no trial date is set, but status reports were ordered on December 14, 2007.

In light of plaintiff's temporary separation from his legal materials, the court will sua sponte extend the deadlines for submission of status reports. The court will also extend the deadline for filing objections to the court's December 19, 2007, findings and recommendations regarding dismissal of unserved defendants Sullwold, Sawker, and Gutierrez.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (Doc. 87) is denied;

2. Plaintiff's request for a copy of the court file (Doc. 89) is denied;

3. The court sua sponte extends the deadlines for submission of status reports and objections to findings and recommendations;

4. Plaintiff's status report will now be due within 45 days of the date of this order;

5. Defendants' status report will be due within 30 days after service of plaintiff's status report; and

6. The parties may file objections to the court's December 19, 2007, findings and recommendations within 45 days of the date of this order.