Brown v. Metro Police

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 Jessica M. Brown, Case No. 2:24-cv-00405-JAD-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 Metro Police; Rape Investigators, 9 Defendants. 10 11 12 Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center inmate, Plaintiff Jessica M. Brown, 13 submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis and a civil rights complaint. (ECF Nos. 6, 14 1-1). The Court granted that application. (ECF No. 10). Plaintiff has now filed another 15 application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 7), a motion for appointment of counsel (ECF 16 No. 8), and a motion to extend time (ECF No. 9). 17 I. Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. 18 Because the Court has already granted Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 19 pauperis, it denies her subsequent application as moot. (ECF No. 7). 20 II. Plaintiffs’ motions for appointment of counsel and to extend time. 21 Courts have authority to request that an attorney represent any person unable to afford 22 counsel. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Whether to appoint counsel is within the discretion of the 23 district court and requires a showing of exceptional circumstances. Agyeman v. Corrections 24 Corp. of America, 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004). To determine whether exceptional 25 circumstances exist, courts consider the likelihood that the plaintiff will succeed on the merits as 26 well as the plaintiff’s ability to articulate his claims “in light of the complexity of the legal issues 27 involved.” Id. Neither factor is dispositive, and both must be viewed together. Wilborn v. 1 Here, Plaintiff has not shown exceptional circumstances for the appointment of counsel. 2 As outlined in the Court’s screening order (ECF No. 10), it is not clear that Plaintiff’s complaint 3 will succeed on the merits because it has not passed screening. Additionally, while Plaintiff has 4 had difficulty following the Court’s instructions, she was able to file a complete application to 5 proceed without paying the filing fee. The Court thus denies her motion for appointment of 6 counsel. 7 Plaintiff also asks that the Court extend time. But it is unclear what deadline she seeks to 8 extend. The Court thus denies this request. 9 10 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 11 pauperis (ECF No. 7) is denied as moot. 12 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF 13 No. 8) is denied. 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for extension (ECF No. 9) is 15 denied. 16 17 DATED: April 17, 2024 18 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27