Dale v. Williams

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: April 7, 2020
• Docket: 3:20-cv-00031
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 ERIC L. DALE, Case No. 3:20-cv-00031-MMD-CLB 6 Petitioner, ORDER 7 v.

8 BRIAN E. WILLIAMS, et al.,

9 Respondents.

10 11 Petitioner Eric L. Dale has submitted a pro se 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of 12 habeas corpus. (ECF No. 1-1.) His application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) 13 is granted. The Court has reviewed the petition pursuant to Habeas Rule 4, and it will be 14 docketed and served on Respondents. 15 A petition for federal habeas corpus should include all claims for relief of which 16 Petitioner is aware. If Petitioner fails to include such a claim in his petition, he may be 17 forever barred from seeking federal habeas relief upon that claim. See 28 U.S.C. 18 §2254(b) (successive petitions). If Petitioner is aware of any claim not included in his 19 petition, he should notify the Court of that as soon as possible, perhaps by means of a 20 motion to amend his petition to add the claim. 21 Petitioner has also submitted a motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 1-2). 22 There is no constitutional right to appointed counsel for a federal habeas corpus 23 proceeding. See Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 555 (1987); Bonin v. Vasquez, 24 999 F.2d 425, 428 (9th Cir.1993). The decision to appoint counsel is generally 25 discretionary. See Chaney v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 26 481 U.S. 1023 (1987); Bashor v. Risley, 730 F.2d 1228, 1234 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 27 U.S. 838 (1984). However, counsel must be appointed if the complexities of the case are 1 petitioner is a person of such limited education as to be incapable of fairly presenting his 2 claims. See Chaney, 801 F.2d at 1196; see also Hawkins v. Bennett, 423 F.2d 948 (8th 3 Cir.1970). Here, Petitioner alleges that his counsel failed to properly investigate his 4 competency and failed to present an insanity defense. Petitioner’s petition appears to 5 present his claims in a reasonably clear manner. However, in order to ensure due process 6 in light of his possible mental health problems, the Court grants his motion for counsel. 7 It is therefore ordered that Petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis 8 (ECF No. 1) is granted. 9 It is further ordered that the Clerk of Court detach, file, and electronically serve the 10 petition (ECF No. 1-1) on Respondents. 11 It is further ordered that the Clerk of Court add Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney 12 General, as counsel for Respondents. 13 It is further ordered that the Clerk of Court detach and file Petitioner’s motion for 14 appointment of counsel (ECF No. 1-2). 15 It is further ordered that Petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel is granted. 16 It is further ordered that the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada 17 (“FPD”) is appointed to represent Petitioner. 18 It is further ordered that the Clerk electronically serve the FPD a copy of this order, 19 together with a copy of the petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1-1). The FPD has 20 30 days from the date of entry of this order to file a notice of appearance or to indicate to 21 the Court its inability to represent Petitioner in these proceedings. 22 It is further ordered that after counsel has appeared for Petitioner in this case, the 23 Court will issue a scheduling order, which will, among other things, set a deadline for the 24 filing of an amended petition. 25 DATED THIS 7th day of April 2020. 26

27 MIRANDA M. DU, CHIEF JUDGE