Gwen v. Masher

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedSeptember 8, 2020
Docket3:20-cv-08197
StatusUnknown

This text of Gwen v. Masher (Gwen v. Masher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gwen v. Masher, (D. Ariz. 2020).

Opinion

1 WO MDR 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Gerald Vaughn Gwen, No. CV 20-08197-PCT-JAT (JFM) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 Scott Mascher, et al., 13 Defendants.

14 15 On August 3, 2020, Plaintiff Gerald Vaughn Gwen, who is confined in the Camp 16 Verde Detention Center in Camp Verde, Arizona, filed a pro se civil rights Complaint 17 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a Motion for Appointment of Counsel (Doc. 2), and an 18 Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 3). On August 28, 2020, he filed a Motion 19 for Leave to File an Amended Complaint (Doc. 5) and lodged a proposed Amended 20 Complaint (Doc. 6). The Court will deny the deficient Application to Proceed, give 21 Plaintiff thirty days to pay the filing and administrative fees or file a complete Application 22 to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, and deny without prejudice the Motion for Leave to File an 23 Amended Complaint and Motion for Appointment of Counsel. 24 I. Payment of Filing Fee 25 When bringing an action, a prisoner must either pay the $350.00 filing fee and a 26 $50.00 administrative fee in a lump sum or, if granted the privilege of proceeding in forma 27 pauperis, pay the $350.00 filing fee incrementally as set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 28 An application to proceed in forma pauperis requires an affidavit of indigence and a 1 certified copy of the inmate’s trust account statement for the six months preceding the filing 2 of the Complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). An inmate must submit statements from each 3 institution where the inmate was confined during the six-month period. Id. To assist 4 prisoners in meeting these requirements, the Court requires use of a form application. 5 LRCiv 3.4. 6 If a prisoner is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court will assess an 7 initial partial filing fee of 20% of either the average monthly deposits or the average 8 monthly balance in Plaintiff’s account, whichever is greater. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). An 9 initial partial filing fee will only be collected when funds exist. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). 10 The balance of the $350.00 filing fee will be collected in monthly payments of 20% of the 11 preceding month’s income credited to an inmate’s account, each time the amount in the 12 account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 13 II. Application Fails to Comply With Statute 14 Plaintiff has used the court-approved form, but has not submitted a certified six- 15 month trust account statement, as required. In light of this deficiency, the Court will deny 16 the Application to Proceed and will give Plaintiff 30 days to either pay the $400.00 filing 17 and administrative fees or file a complete Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 18 III. Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint 19 In his Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint, Plaintiff contends the Court 20 should freely grant leave to amend, the court-approved form for filing a civil rights action 21 is “restrictive and does not allow a plaintiff to adequately provide all relevant facts and 22 information,” and “there are no limitations to the number of claims he may advance in his 23 complaint.” 24 Local Rule of Civil Procedure 3.4 requires in part that “[a]ll complaints and 25 applications to proceed in forma pauperis by incarcerated persons shall be signed and 26 legibly written or typewritten on forms approved by the Court and in accordance with the 27 instructions provided with the forms.” The court-approved form Complaint is six pages 28 long and both the form Complaint and accompanying instructions permit an inmate to 1 attach “no more than fifteen additional pages” of standard letter-sized paper. (Emphasis 2 in original.) A document that complies with Local Rule of Civil Procedure 3.4, therefore, 3 would be filed on the court-approved form and would be no longer than 21 pages. 4 The Court, in its discretion, will deny without prejudice Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave 5 an Amended Complaint. Plaintiff’s lodged 18-page amended complaint is not filed on the 6 court-approved form, and Plaintiff has provided nothing to suggest that the court-approved 7 form prevents him from adequately providing relevant facts and information in support of 8 his claims. 9 Plaintiff can file an amended complaint that is on the court-approved form and 10 otherwise complies with Local Rule of Civil Procedure 3.4. As a courtesy to Plaintiff, the 11 Court will direct the Clerk of Court to send Plaintiff a copy of the court-approved form for 12 filing a civil rights complaint by a prisoner. 13 IV. Motion for Appointment of Counsel 14 Plaintiff requests the Court appoint counsel to represent him, alleging that he is 15 unable to afford counsel, the issues in his case are complex, he has limited access to a law 16 library and the courts because he is in custody and segregated, and he has limited 17 knowledge of the law. 18 There is no constitutional right to the appointment of counsel in a civil case. See 19 Ivey v. Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 269 (9th Cir. 1982). In proceedings in forma pauperis, 20 the court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to afford one. 28 U.S.C. 21 § 1915(e)(1). Appointment of counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) is required only when 22 “exceptional circumstances” are present. Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 23 1991). A determination with respect to exceptional circumstances requires an evaluation 24 of the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of Plaintiff to articulate his 25 claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issue involved. Id. “Neither of these 26 factors is dispositive and both must be viewed together before reaching a decision.” Id. 27 (quoting Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 1986)). 28 1 Having considered both elements, it does not appear at this time that exceptional 2 circumstances are present that would require the appointment of counsel in this case. 3 Plaintiff is in no different position than many pro se prisoner litigants. Thus, the Court will 4 deny without prejudice Plaintiff’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel. 5 V. Warnings 6 A. Address Changes 7 Plaintiff must file and serve a notice of a change of address in accordance with Rule 8 83.3(d) of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff must not include a motion for other 9 relief with a notice of change of address. Failure to comply may result in dismissal of this 10 action. 11 B. Possible Dismissal 12 If Plaintiff fails to timely comply with every provision of this Order, including these 13 warnings, the Court may dismiss this action without further notice. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 14 963 F.2d 1258, 1260-61 (9th Cir.

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Gwen v. Masher, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gwen-v-masher-azd-2020.