Opinion
Case No.16-cv-04184-PJH
11-03-2016
ISAURO GONZALES, Plaintiff, v. LE VOS, et al., Defendants.
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL
Re: Dkt. No. 10
This is a civil rights case brought pro se by a detainee. Plaintiff has filed a motion to appoint counsel. There is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case, Lassiter v. Dep't of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981), and although district courts may "request" that counsel represent a litigant who is proceeding in forma pauperis, as plaintiff is here, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), that does not give the courts the power to make "coercive appointments of counsel." Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 310 (1989).
The Ninth Circuit has held that a district court may ask counsel to represent an indigent litigant only in "exceptional circumstances," the determination of which requires an evaluation of both (1) the likelihood of success on the merits and (2) the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991). Plaintiff has presented his claims adequately, and the issues are not complex.
Therefore, the motion to appoint counsel (Docket No. 10) is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 3, 2016
/s/_________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.
That on November 3, 2016, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery receptacle located in the Clerk's office. Isauro Gonzales ID: AYA300/15054037
County Jail
701 South Able Street
Milpitas, CA 95035 Dated: November 3, 2016
Susan Y. Soong
Clerk, United States District Court
By:/s/_________
Nichole Peric, Deputy Clerk to the
Honorable PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON