CDCR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 MICHAEL LENIOR SMITH, No. 2:18-cv-2942 KJM AC P Plaintiff, v. ORDER CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF

CORRECTIONS AND

REHABILITATION, et al., Defendants. 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, has requested appointment of an expert witness. ECF No. 64. The statute authorizing plaintiff’s in forma pauperis status does not authorize the expenditure of public funds for expert witnesses. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915; Tedder v. Odel, 890 F.2d 210, 211-12 (9th Cir. 1989) (per curiam) (expenditure of public funds on behalf of indigent litigant is proper only when authorized by Congress); Boring v. Kozakiewicz, 833 F.2d 468, 474 (3d Cir. 1987) (no provision to pay fees for expert witnesses). The federal courts have uniformly held that an indigent prisoner litigant must bear his own costs of litigation, including witnesses. Tedder, 890 F.2d at 211 (in forma pauperis…