Johnson v. Williams

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 JERRY E. JOHNSON, Case No.: 2:22-cv-00642-JAD-DJA

4 Petitioner Order Denying Petitioner’s Motion for 5 v. Appointment of Counsel and Granting Respondent’s Motion to Extend Time to 6 CALVIN JOHNSON, et al., Respond to Petition to November 17, 2022 7 Respondents [ECF Nos. 9, 11] 8 9 Jerry E. Johnson moves the court to appoint him counsel in this habeas corpus proceeding 10 that challenges his 2017 state-court conviction for sexual assault.1 There is no constitutional 11 right to appointed counsel for a federal habeas corpus proceeding,2 but the court must appoint an 12 attorney if (1) a case is so complex denying counsel would deny due process or (2) the 13 petitioner’s education is so limited that he is incapable of fairly presenting his claims.3 Johnson 14 offers a number of reasons that he believes counsel is necessary, including that he is facing a 15 lengthy sentence, has no legal training, and maintains his innocence.4 But his petition is 16 sufficiently clear in presenting the issues that he wishes to bring, and the issues in this case are 17 not particularly complex. So it does not appear that appointment of counsel is warranted here. 18 19

20 1 ECF No. 9. 21 2 Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 555 (1987); Bonin v. Vasquez, 999 F.2d 425, 428 (9th Cir. 1993). 22 3 Chaney v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1023 (1987); Bashor v. Risley, 730 F.2d 1228, 1234 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 838 (1984); Hawkins v. 23 Bennett, 423 F.2d 948 (8th Cir. 1970). 4 ECF No. 9. ] IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel 2|| [ECF No. 9] is DENIED. 3 And, with good cause appearing, IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that respondents’ motion for extension of time to respond to the petition for writ of habeas corpus [ECF No. 11] is 5|GRANTED. The deadline to respond is extended to November 17, 2022. 6 7 Le Le USS. District Ige J enhifgr A. Dorse 8 October 4, 202 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23