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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 JUAN LUIS MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ, Case No. 1:25-cv-01772-JLT-SAB-HC

12 Petitioner, ORDER DENYING PETITIONER’S

MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF

13 v. COUNSEL WITHOUT PREJUDICE

14 WARDEN OF THE GOLDEN STATE (ECF No. 3) ANNEX DETENTION FACILITY, et al., 15 Respondents. 16 17 18 Petitioner is an immigration detainee proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas 19 corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. 20 Petitioner has moved for appointment of counsel. (ECF No. 3.) There currently exists no 21 absolute right to appointment of counsel in habeas proceedings. See, e.g., Chaney v. Lewis, 801 22 F.2d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir. 1986); Anderson v. Heinze, 258 F.2d 479, 481 (9th Cir. 1958). 23 However, the Criminal Justice Act authorizes the appointment of counsel at any stage of the 24 proceeding for financially eligible persons if “the interests of justice so require.” 18 U.S.C. 25 § 3006A(a)(2)(B). To determine whether to appoint counsel, the “court must evaluate the 26 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to articulate his claims 27 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). 1 Here, the Court received only the first page of Petitioner’s motion. (ECF No. 3.) 2 | Although Petitioner has not provided the Court with the reasons for his request, upon review of 3 | the petition, the Court finds that Petitioner appears to have a sufficient grasp of his claims and 4 | the legal issues involved and that he is able to articulate those claims adequately. The Court finds 5 | that the interests of justice do not require the appointment of counsel at the present time. 6 | However, if upon review of Respondent’s response to the petition, the Court finds that the legal 7 | issues are more complex than they currently appear, the Court may revisit Petitioner’s request for 8 | counsel. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Petitioner’s motion to appoint counsel 10 | (ECF No. 3) is DENIED without prejudice. 11 Db IT IS SO ORDERED. DAA Le 13 | Dated: _December 12, 2025 __ Oe

STANLEY A. BOONE

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