Vaught IV v. Oppedisano

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 30, 2020
Docket3:20-cv-01500
StatusUnknown

This text of Vaught IV v. Oppedisano (Vaught IV v. Oppedisano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vaught IV v. Oppedisano, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ELBERT LEE VAUGHT, IV, Case No. 20cv1500-MMA-RBB

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 13 vs. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS;

14 ALBERT OPPEDISANO, PhD; [Doc. No. 3] JOHN DOE I, Board Chief Psychologist; 15 CHRISTOPHER HOEFT, Staff Attorney; DENYING MOTIONS FOR 16 GEORGE BAKERJIAN, Chief Counsel, APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL;

17 Defendants. [Doc. Nos. 3, 6] 18

19 DISMISSING COMPLAINT FOR FAILING TO STATE A CLAIM 20 PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) 21 AND § 1915A(b)

22 23 Plaintiff Elbert Lee Vaught, IV, currently incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan State 24 Prison (“RJD”) located in San Diego, California, and proceeding pro se, has filed a civil 25 rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Doc. No. 1 (“Compl.”). Plaintiff did 26 not prepay the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), but did file a Motion to 27 Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”). See Doc. No. 2. Plaintiff has also filed two Motions 28 to Appoint Counsel. See Doc. Nos. 3, 6. 1 I. Motion to Proceed IFP 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $400.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 5 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(a). See Cervantes, 493 F.3d at 1051. However, prisoners who are granted leave 7 to proceed IFP remain obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” 8 Bruce v. Samuels, __ U.S. __, 136 S. Ct. 627, 629 (2016); Williams, 775 F.3d at 1185, 9 and regardless of whether their action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 11 Section 1915(a)(2) also requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a 12 “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 13 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. 14 § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005) (“King”). From the 15 certified trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the 16 average monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average 17 monthly balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the 18 prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). T he 19 institution having custody of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20 20% of the preceding month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, 21 and forwards those payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. 22 § 1915(b)(2); Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 629. 23 Plaintiff’s CDCR Statements and Prison Certificates show that he has carried an 24 average monthly balance of $924.70, had $701.67 in average monthly deposits to his 25

26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $50. See 27 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June 1, 2016). The additional $50 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to proceed 28 1 account over the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint and 2 had an available balance of $151.58 on the books at the time of filing. See Doc. No. 4; 3 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); King, 398 F.3d at 1119. Based on this accounting, the Court 4 GRANTS Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP and imposes an initial partial filing fee of 5 $184.94 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). However, the Court will direct the 6 Secretary of the CDCR, or his designee, to collect this initial filing fee only if sufficient 7 funds are available in Vaught’s account at the time this Order is executed. See 28 U.S.C. 8 § 1915(b)(4) (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a 9 civil action or appealing a civil action or criminal judgment for the reason that the 10 prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.”); 11 Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 630; Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) 12 acts as a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based solely on a 13 “failure to pay ... due to the lack of funds available to him when payment is ordered.”). 14 The remaining balance of the $350 total fee owed in this case must be collected by the 15 agency having custody of the prisoner and forwarded to the Clerk of the Court pursuant 16 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 17 II. Motions to Appoint Counsel 18 Plaintiff also seeks the appointment of counsel because the issues in his case are 19 complex, he is a “layman at law,” he cannot afford a typewriter, he is unable to afford a 20 lawyer and claims his imprisonment will limit his ability to litigate. Pl.’s Mot., Doc. No. 21 3 at 1-3; Doc. No. 6. However, there is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case. 22 Lassiter v. Dept. of Social Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981); Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 23 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). And while 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) grants the district court 24 limited discretion to “request” that an attorney represent an indigent civil litigant, 25 Agyeman v. Corr. Corp. of America, 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004), this discretion 26 may be exercised only under “exceptional circumstances.” Id.; see also Terrell v. 27 Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991). A finding of exceptional circumstances 28 requires the Court “to consider whether there is a ‘likelihood of success on the merits’ 1 and whether ‘the prisoner is unable to articulate his claims in light of the complexity of 2 the legal issues involved.’” Harrington v.

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Vaught IV v. Oppedisano, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaught-iv-v-oppedisano-casd-2020.