Riggs v. Filson

Opinion

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

5 *** 6 DANIEL HARVEY RIGGS, Case No. 3:21-cv-00071-MMD-WGC

7 Petitioner, ORDER v. 8 TIMOTHY FILSON, et al., 9 Respondents. 10 11 This habeas matter is before the Court on Petitioner Daniel Harvey Riggs’s motion 12 to withdraw (ECF No. 7)1 and motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 10).2 Also 13 before the Court is petitioner’s motion for order directing clerk to send docket sheet (ECF 14 No. 8). 15 I. MOTION TO WITHDRAW AND MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 16 Petitioner filed a counseled petition for writ of habeas corpus. (ECF No. 1.) 17 Petitioner challenges two convictions imposed by the Second Judicial District Court for 18 Washoe County, Nevada (“state court”). See State of Nevada v. Petitioner, Case No. 19 CR13-1067, CR13-1364.3 In 2013, Petitioner entered a nolo contendere plea to two counts 20 of attempted sexual assault as part of a global settlement resolving both cases. The state 21 district court sentenced him to an aggregate term of 16 to 40 years. 22 Petitioner is currently represented by Robert Lindsay, Esq. Counsel for Petitioner 23 1Respondents filed a non-opposition (ECF No. 9) to Petitioner’s motion to withdraw. 24 2Respondents filed a non-opposition (ECF No. 11) to Petitioner’s motion for 25 appointment of counsel.

26 3The Court takes judicial notice of the online docket records of the Second Judicial District Court and Nevada appellate courts, which may be accessed at 27 www.washoecourts.com/Query/DetailedCaseSearch and 28 http://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseSearch.do. 1 asserts that he can no longer represent Petitioner due to his present physical condition 2 and that he is withdrawing from all but minor misdemeanor cases. The Court finds good 3 cause exists to grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. 4 Turning to Petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel, there is no constitutional 5 right to appointed counsel in a federal habeas corpus proceeding. See Luna v. Kernan, 6 784 F.3d 640, 642 (9th Cir. 2015) (citing Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. 327, 336-37 7 (2007)). But an indigent petitioner may request appointed counsel to pursue that relief. 8 See 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). The decision to appoint counsel is generally 9 discretionary. Id. (authorizing appointed counsel “when the interests of justice so require”); 10 see also id. § 3006A(a)(2). 11 Petitioner’s motion asks the Court to appoint counsel because of the complexity of 12 this federal habeas action as well as the lengthy sentence structure. The Court finds 13 Petitioner is unable to afford counsel, and the issues presented warrant the appointment 14 of counsel. See 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B). Accordingly, Petitioner’s motion for 15 appointment of counsel is granted. 16 II. MOTION FOR ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO SEND DOCKET SHEET 17 Petitioner’s motion requests copies of the docket sheet and all filings in his case. 18 Generally, an inmate has no constitutional right to free photocopying or to obtain court 19 documents without payment. See Johnson v. Moore, 948 F.2d 517, 521 (9th Cir. 1991). 20 The fundamental constitutional right of access to the courts requires prison authorities 21 to help inmates prepare and file “meaningful legal papers by providing prisoners with 22 adequate law libraries or adequate assistance from persons trained in the law,” Bounds v. 23 Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 828 (1977); it does not impose an obligation “to finance and support 24 prisoner litigation,” Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 384-85 (1996). 25 As a one-time courtesy to Petitioner, the Court will instruct the Clerk’s office to mail 26 him a copy of this order and the current docket sheet. 27 III. CONCLUSION 28 It is therefore ordered that Petitioner’s counsel’s motion to withdraw (ECF No. 7) is 1 granted. 2 It is further ordered that Petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 10) 3 is granted. 4 It is further ordered that Petitioner’s motion for order directing clerk to send docket 5 sheet (ECF No. 8) is granted in part. The Clerk of Court is instructed to mail Petitioner a 6 copy of this order and the current docket sheet. 7 It is further ordered that the Federal Public Defender is provisionally appointed as 8 counsel and will have 21 days from the date of this order to enter a notice of appearance 9 or to indicate the office’s inability to represent Petitioner in these proceedings. If the 10 Federal Public Defender is unable to represent Petitioner, the Court will appoint alternate 11 counsel. The counsel appointed will represent Petitioner in all federal proceedings related 12 to this matter, including any appeals or certiorari proceedings, unless allowed to withdraw. 13 All deadlines set forth in ECF No. 3 will remain in place unless otherwise ordered by the 14 Court. 15 DATED THIS 13th Day of September 2021.

18 MIRANDA M. DU CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28