Allison

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 DAVID LEONARD JOHNSON, Case No.: 19cv1673-LAB(KSC)

Petitioner, ORDER RE PETITIONER'S v. REQUEST FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL [Doc. No. 3.] MARION SPEARMAN, Warden, Respondent. 16 Petitioner David Leonard Johnson, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Before the Court is a one-sentence request by petitioner that was filed along with his Petition stating he is an “indigent inmate and is requesting appointment of counsel.” [Doc. No. 3.] An indigent’s right to appointed counsel has been recognized to exist “only where the litigant may lose his physical liberty if he loses the litigation.” Lassiter v. Department of Social Services of Durham County, N. C., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). District Courts generally lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in habeas cases. Mallard v.…