STANLEY A. BOONE, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff Jeremiah D. Vickers is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. All parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Local Rule 302. (ECF Nos. 8, 40, 65, 89.) This matter is currently set for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies on September 27, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (ECF No. 100.)
Currently before the Court is Plaintiff's ex parte motion requesting the appointment of counsel, with a declaration in support. (ECF No. 104.) Plaintiff moves for the appointment of counsel to represent him in the evidentiary hearing, and to postpone the hearing so that additional discovery can be conducted. In support, Plaintiff asserts that he is unable to afford counsel, lacks legal training, and has limited law library access and little ability to conduct discovery or evidentiary hearings. He asserts that he requires time to identify, locate, and interview inmates who can support his version of events, investigate housing records and incident/surveillance records, and to have counsel prepare to examine witnesses at the hearing.
Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action.
Here, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances to appoint counsel, nor does it find good cause to postpone the evidentiary hearing. The Court cannot find a likelihood of success on the merits at this stage, and Plaintiff has adequately articulated his claim and has satisfactorily represented himself through out this proceeding. Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances.
Further, Plaintiff has not made a showing necessary to reopen discovery at this late stage, or to otherwise modify the schedule in this matter. Defendants made their motion for summary judgment for the failure to exhaust administrative remedies over eleven months ago, on October 3, 2017. (ECF No. 85.) Thus, Plaintiff has been long aware of the defense and issues here that are the subject of the upcoming hearing.
Plaintiff made previous requests for extensions of time to respond to Defendants' summary judgment motion, but never raised the need to gather additional evidence or witness information to support his defense on this issue. (
Finally, the Court ordered the parties to meet and confer on witnesses and evidence to be presented at the hearing before it scheduled the matter on the calendar. (ECF No. 98, at 16.) Plaintiff did not inform the Court of any need to delay proceedings to interview any specific witnesses or gather any specific evidence. (
Under these circumstances, the Court does not find the justification for disrupting the schedule of this litigation, postponing the hearing, or reopening discovery.
For these reasons, Plaintiff's motion, filed on September 19, 2018 (ECF No. 104), is HEREBY DENIED.