Springs v. Raber

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 Jordan SPRINGS, Case No.: 21-cv-0862-MMA-AGS 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL (ECF 16) 12 v. 13 RABER, 14 Defendant. 15 16 Plaintiff Jordan Springs, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, requests appointed 17 counsel because he “is unable to afford counsel,” and he believes “the issues involved in 18 the case are complex and will require significant research and investigation.” (ECF 15, 19 at 1-2.) 20 “Generally, a person has no right to counsel in civil actions.” Palmer v. Valdez, 21 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). Even under the statutory authority to recruit counsel in 22 civil cases, the Court cannot force attorneys to represent an indigent civil litigant. See 23 Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 310 (1989) (holding that 24 the relevant statute—28 U.S.C. § 1915—“does not authorize the federal courts to make 25 coercive appointments of counsel”). But “a court may under ‘exceptional circumstances’ 26 appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1).” Palmer, 27 560 F.3d at 970 (citation omitted). “When determining whether exceptional circumstances 28 exist, a court must consider the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of | petitioner to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues 2 ||involved.” /d. (citation and quotation marks omitted). 3 Despite Springs’s assertion that his case involves complex legal issues, the case 4 ||appears to be relatively straightforward. He alleges a single claim against a single 5 defendant: that correctional officer Raber closed the cell door on him “maliciously and 6 ||sadistically without provocation, which constituted cruel and unusual punishment in 7 || violation of the Eighth Amendment.” (ECF 7, at 4); see also Price vy. Kramer, 8 ||993 F. Supp. 1295, 1298 (C.D. Cal. 1997) (“With rare exceptions, excessive force cases 9 ||are simple, rather than complex cases. Excessive force cases almost always involve very 10 events which happened over a very short time span. There tend to be relatively few 11 || witnesses, and the dispositive disputes almost always involve the credibility of witnesses.” 12 (emphasis omitted)). 13 And Springs appears capable of articulating his case. He has twice amended his 14 ||complaint, sufficiently resolving issues identified by the Court to allow his claim to go 15 || forward. (See ECF 5; ECF 7.) His second amended complaint is detailed and well-written 16 ||(see generally ECF 7), and he has submitted extensive records covering his efforts to 17 || exhaust administrative remedies (see generally ECF 13). 18 Thus, Springs has not shown exceptional circumstances justifying appointment of 19 || counsel. The motion to appoint counsel is DENIED without prejudice. 20 || Dated: December 17, 2021 21 — | Hon. ndrew G. Schopler United States Magistrate Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28