(PC) Jones v. C.D.C.R.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EUGENE JONES, Case No. 1:24-cv-01298-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 13 v. (ECF No. 11) 14 CDCR, et al., ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO 15 Defendants. UPDATE PLAINTIFF’S MAILING ADDRESS AND RE-SERVE OCTOBER 25, 16 2024 ORDER (ECF No. 4) 17 18 Plaintiff Eugene Jones (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner appearing pro se in this civil rights 19 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint, filed October 24, 2024, has not yet been 20 screened. 21 Although Plaintiff submitted a motion to proceed in forma pauperis, it was missing a 22 second page, and therefore did not contain Plaintiff’s signature or a signed authorization 23 permitting withdrawals from Plaintiff’s inmate account. It was also missing a certified copy of 24 Plaintiff’s trust account statement. Therefore, on October 25, 2024, the Court issued an order 25 directing Plaintiff to submit a completed and signed application, or to pay the $405.00 filing fee 26 for this action, within thirty days. (ECF No. 4.) The order was re-served to Plaintiff at Kern 27 Valley State Prison on November 4, 2024, following the filing of Plaintiff’s notice of change of 28 address. (ECF No. 5.) 1 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel and notice of change of 2 address, filed November 8, 2024. (ECF No. 6.) In his motion, Plaintiff states that he does not 3 wish to handle this case on his own without counsel. Plaintiff states that he has mental problems 4 and is currently on crisis bed. Plaintiff will be going to Lancaster State Prison and will no longer 5 be at Wasco State Prison, and when he goes to Lancaster he will mail the consent papers back. 6 (Id.) Plaintiff submitted his consent/decline paperwork on November 12, 2024. (ECF No. 7.) 7 Plaintiff is informed that he does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in 8 this action, Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), rev’d in part on other 9 grounds, 154 F.3d 952, 954 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998), and the court cannot require an attorney to 10 represent plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court for the S. Dist. 11 of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). However, in certain exceptional circumstances the court may 12 request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section 1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 13 1525. 14 Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the Court will seek 15 volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether 16 “exceptional circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on 17 the merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 18 complexity of the legal issues involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 19 The Court has considered Plaintiff’s request, but does not find the required exceptional 20 circumstances. Even if it is assumed that Plaintiff has made serious allegations which, if proved, 21 would entitle him to relief, his case is not exceptional. This Court is faced with similar cases filed 22 almost daily by prisoners receiving mental health treatment who must also litigate their cases 23 without the assistance of counsel. 24 Furthermore, at this stage in the proceedings, the Court cannot make a determination that 25 Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits. Plaintiff’s complaint has not yet been screened to 26 determine whether it states a cognizable claim. Finally, based on a review of the record in this 27 case, the Court does not find that Plaintiff cannot adequately articulate his claims. 28 /// 1 With respect to Plaintiff’s transfer, a review of the CDCR California Incarcerated Records 2 and Information Search (“CIRIS”) website as of the date of this order indicates that Plaintiff is 3 currently housed at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, in Lancaster, California.1 Based 4 on this information, the Court will direct the Clerk of the Court to update Plaintiff’s mailing 5 address and re-serve the Court’s October 25, 2024 order. The deadline for Plaintiff to submit a 6 completed and signed application to proceed in forma pauperis, or pay the filing fee in full, will 7 be extended accordingly. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 9 1. Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel, (ECF No. 6), is DENIED, without prejudice; 10 2. The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to: 11 a. Update Plaintiff’s mailing address to California State Prison, Los Angeles County; 12 and 13 b. Re-serve the October 25, 2024 order, (ECF No. 4), on Plaintiff at his new address 14 of record; and 15 3. Plaintiff is warned that failure to comply with the Court’s October 25, 2024 order 16 will result in dismissal of this action, without prejudice. 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18

19 Dated: November 13, 2024 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 1 The Court may take judicial notice of public information stored on the CDCR CIRIS website. See In re Yahoo 27 Mail Litig., 7 F. Supp. 3d. 1016, 1024 (N.D. Cal. 2014) (court may take judicial notice of information on “publicly accessible websites” not subject to reasonable dispute); Louis v. McCormick & Schmick Restaurant Corp., 460 F. 28 Supp. 2d. 1153, 1155 n.4 (C.D. Cal. 2006) (court may take judicial notice of state agency records).