3 STEVE MURRAY, Case No. 3:25-cv-00123-MMD-CSD 4 Plaintiff, ORDER 5 v.
6 KEN WILLIAMS, et al.,
7 Defendants.
8 9 This action began with a pro se civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 10 1983 by a state prisoner. Plaintiff has submitted an application to proceed in forma 11 pauperis. (ECF No. 1). Based on the financial information provided, the Court finds that 12 Plaintiff is unable to prepay the full filing fee in this matter. 13 The Court entered a screening order on March 6, 2025. (ECF No. 6). The 14 screening order imposed a stay, and the Court entered a subsequent order in which the 15 parties were assigned to mediation by a court-appointed mediator. (ECF Nos. 6, 13). 16 The parties participated in a mediation conference, but they did not reach a settlement. 17 (ECF No. 29). 18 During the stay, Plaintiff filed a motion to correct exhibits to the complaint. (ECF 19 No. 7). Plaintiff states that he accidentally left out the second page of his exhibit index, 20 and he asks that the Court refile the exhibits with the second page of the index added 21 back in. (Id.) This case has recently completed the screening process and the parties 22 have gone through mediation. As part of this order, the Court will direct the Defendants 23 to indicate whether they will accept service of the complaint. The Defendants will then 24 file an answer. No exhibits are necessary at this point in the litigation process, and, 25 therefore, the Court denies the motion without prejudice. It is not clear that the failure to 26 include the index will create any issues later in the litigation, but if it does present a 27 problem later in this litigation, Plaintiff may renew his motion at that time. 1 Plaintiff also filed a motion for appointment of counsel. (ECF Nos. 9). A litigant 2 does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights 3 claims. Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 4 § 1915(e)(1), “[t]he court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to 5 afford counsel.” However, the court will appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants only in 6 “exceptional circumstances.” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (§ 1983 7 action). “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must 8 consider ‘the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to 9 articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. 10 “Neither of these considerations is dispositive and instead must be viewed together.” Id. 11 In his motion, Plaintiff argues that this case involves complex medical issues, and 12 it may require expert testimony for which he would need the assistance of counsel. (Id. at 13 9). Plaintiff has successfully presented his claim in his complaint, and he does not 14 demonstrate that he needs assistance of counsel to continue litigating this case at this 15 preliminary stage in this litigation. Any potential need for expert testimony would not arise 16 until much later in the case. Thus, the Court denies the motion for appointment of counsel 17 without prejudice. 18 For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that: 19 1. Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) is 20 GRANTED. Plaintiff shall not be required to pay an initial installment of the filing fee. In 21 the event that this action is dismissed, the full filing fee must still be paid pursuant to 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 23 2. The movant herein is permitted to maintain this action to conclusion without 24 the necessity of prepayment of any additional fees or costs or the giving of security 25 therefor. 26 3. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the Nevada Department of Corrections will 27 forward payments from the account of Steve Murray, #1037015 to the Clerk of the United 1 States District Court, District of Nevada, 20% of the preceding month's deposits (in 2 months that the account exceeds $10.00) until the full $350 filing fee has been paid for 3 this action. The Clerk of the Court will send a copy of this order to the Finance Division 4 of the Clerk’s Office. The Clerk will send a copy of this order to the attention of Chief of 5 Inmate Services for the Nevada Department of Corrections at 6 formapauperis@doc.nv.gov. 7 4. The Clerk of the Court shall electronically SERVE a copy of this order and 8 a copy of Plaintiff’s complaint (ECF No. 6) on the Office of the Attorney General of the 9 State of Nevada by adding the Attorney General of the State of Nevada to the docket 10 sheet. This does not indicate acceptance of service. 11 5. Service must be perfected within ninety (90) days from the date of this order 12 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). 13 6. Subject to the findings of the screening order (ECF No. 5), within twenty- 14 one (21) days of the date of entry of this order, the Attorney General’s Office shall file a 15 notice advising the Court and Plaintiff of: (a) the names of the defendants for whom it 16 accepts service; (b) the names of the defendants for whom it does not accept service, 17 and (c) the names of the defendants for whom it is filing the last-known-address 18 information under seal. As to any of the named defendants for whom the Attorney 19 General’s Office cannot accept service, the Office shall file, under seal, but shall not serve 20 the inmate Plaintiff the last known address(es) of those defendant(s) for whom it has such 21 information. If the last known address of the defendant(s) is a post office box, the Attorney 22 General’s Office shall attempt to obtain and provide the last known physical address(es). 23 7. If service cannot be accepted for any of the named defendant(s), Plaintiff 24 shall file a motion identifying the unserved defendant(s), requesting issuance of a 25 summons, and specifying a full name and address for the defendant(s). For the 26 defendant(s) as to which the Attorney General has not provided last-known-address 27 information, Plaintiff shall provide the full name and address for the defendant(s). 1 8. If the Attorney General accepts service of process for any named 2|| defendant(s), such defendant(s) shall file and serve an answer or other response to the complaint (ECF No. 6) within sixty (60) days from the date of this order. 4 9. Plaintiff shall serve upon defendant(s) or, if an appearance has been 5|| entered by counsel, upon their attorney(s), a copy of every pleading, motion or other document submitted for consideration by the Court. If Plaintiff electronically files a 7 || document with the Court’s electronic-filing system, no certificate of service is required. g|| Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(1)(B); Nev. Loc. R. IC 4-1(b); Nev. Loc. R. 5-1. However, if Plaintiff g|| mails the document to the Court, Plaintiff shall include with the original document 410|| submitted for filing a certificate stating the date that a true and correct copy of the 41|| document was mailed to the defendants or counsel for the defendants.
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3 STEVE MURRAY, Case No. 3:25-cv-00123-MMD-CSD 4 Plaintiff, ORDER 5 v.
6 KEN WILLIAMS, et al.,
7 Defendants.
8 9 This action began with a pro se civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 10 1983 by a state prisoner. Plaintiff has submitted an application to proceed in forma 11 pauperis. (ECF No. 1). Based on the financial information provided, the Court finds that 12 Plaintiff is unable to prepay the full filing fee in this matter. 13 The Court entered a screening order on March 6, 2025. (ECF No. 6). The 14 screening order imposed a stay, and the Court entered a subsequent order in which the 15 parties were assigned to mediation by a court-appointed mediator. (ECF Nos. 6, 13). 16 The parties participated in a mediation conference, but they did not reach a settlement. 17 (ECF No. 29). 18 During the stay, Plaintiff filed a motion to correct exhibits to the complaint. (ECF 19 No. 7). Plaintiff states that he accidentally left out the second page of his exhibit index, 20 and he asks that the Court refile the exhibits with the second page of the index added 21 back in. (Id.) This case has recently completed the screening process and the parties 22 have gone through mediation. As part of this order, the Court will direct the Defendants 23 to indicate whether they will accept service of the complaint. The Defendants will then 24 file an answer. No exhibits are necessary at this point in the litigation process, and, 25 therefore, the Court denies the motion without prejudice. It is not clear that the failure to 26 include the index will create any issues later in the litigation, but if it does present a 27 problem later in this litigation, Plaintiff may renew his motion at that time. 1 Plaintiff also filed a motion for appointment of counsel. (ECF Nos. 9). A litigant 2 does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights 3 claims. Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 4 § 1915(e)(1), “[t]he court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to 5 afford counsel.” However, the court will appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants only in 6 “exceptional circumstances.” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (§ 1983 7 action). “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must 8 consider ‘the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to 9 articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. 10 “Neither of these considerations is dispositive and instead must be viewed together.” Id. 11 In his motion, Plaintiff argues that this case involves complex medical issues, and 12 it may require expert testimony for which he would need the assistance of counsel. (Id. at 13 9). Plaintiff has successfully presented his claim in his complaint, and he does not 14 demonstrate that he needs assistance of counsel to continue litigating this case at this 15 preliminary stage in this litigation. Any potential need for expert testimony would not arise 16 until much later in the case. Thus, the Court denies the motion for appointment of counsel 17 without prejudice. 18 For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that: 19 1. Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) is 20 GRANTED. Plaintiff shall not be required to pay an initial installment of the filing fee. In 21 the event that this action is dismissed, the full filing fee must still be paid pursuant to 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 23 2. The movant herein is permitted to maintain this action to conclusion without 24 the necessity of prepayment of any additional fees or costs or the giving of security 25 therefor. 26 3. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the Nevada Department of Corrections will 27 forward payments from the account of Steve Murray, #1037015 to the Clerk of the United 1 States District Court, District of Nevada, 20% of the preceding month's deposits (in 2 months that the account exceeds $10.00) until the full $350 filing fee has been paid for 3 this action. The Clerk of the Court will send a copy of this order to the Finance Division 4 of the Clerk’s Office. The Clerk will send a copy of this order to the attention of Chief of 5 Inmate Services for the Nevada Department of Corrections at 6 formapauperis@doc.nv.gov. 7 4. The Clerk of the Court shall electronically SERVE a copy of this order and 8 a copy of Plaintiff’s complaint (ECF No. 6) on the Office of the Attorney General of the 9 State of Nevada by adding the Attorney General of the State of Nevada to the docket 10 sheet. This does not indicate acceptance of service. 11 5. Service must be perfected within ninety (90) days from the date of this order 12 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). 13 6. Subject to the findings of the screening order (ECF No. 5), within twenty- 14 one (21) days of the date of entry of this order, the Attorney General’s Office shall file a 15 notice advising the Court and Plaintiff of: (a) the names of the defendants for whom it 16 accepts service; (b) the names of the defendants for whom it does not accept service, 17 and (c) the names of the defendants for whom it is filing the last-known-address 18 information under seal. As to any of the named defendants for whom the Attorney 19 General’s Office cannot accept service, the Office shall file, under seal, but shall not serve 20 the inmate Plaintiff the last known address(es) of those defendant(s) for whom it has such 21 information. If the last known address of the defendant(s) is a post office box, the Attorney 22 General’s Office shall attempt to obtain and provide the last known physical address(es). 23 7. If service cannot be accepted for any of the named defendant(s), Plaintiff 24 shall file a motion identifying the unserved defendant(s), requesting issuance of a 25 summons, and specifying a full name and address for the defendant(s). For the 26 defendant(s) as to which the Attorney General has not provided last-known-address 27 information, Plaintiff shall provide the full name and address for the defendant(s). 1 8. If the Attorney General accepts service of process for any named 2|| defendant(s), such defendant(s) shall file and serve an answer or other response to the complaint (ECF No. 6) within sixty (60) days from the date of this order. 4 9. Plaintiff shall serve upon defendant(s) or, if an appearance has been 5|| entered by counsel, upon their attorney(s), a copy of every pleading, motion or other document submitted for consideration by the Court. If Plaintiff electronically files a 7 || document with the Court’s electronic-filing system, no certificate of service is required. g|| Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(1)(B); Nev. Loc. R. IC 4-1(b); Nev. Loc. R. 5-1. However, if Plaintiff g|| mails the document to the Court, Plaintiff shall include with the original document 410|| submitted for filing a certificate stating the date that a true and correct copy of the 41|| document was mailed to the defendants or counsel for the defendants. If counsel has 42\|| entered a notice of appearance, Plaintiff shall direct service to the individual attorney 43|| named in the notice of appearance, at the physical or electronic address stated therein. The Court may disregard any document received by a district judge or magistrate judge 45|| which has not been filed with the Clerk, and any document received by a district judge, 16|| magistrate judge, or the Clerk which fails to include a certificate showing proper service when required. 18 10. ‘This case is no longer stayed. 19 11. Plaintiff's motion to correct the exhibits to the complaint (ECF No. 7) is 20|| DENIED without prejudice. 12. Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 9) is DENIED without 22|| prejudice. 23 DATED: August 19, 2025 24 oc Ss 25 36 UNITED STATES MAG RATE JUDGE