Woods v. Dugan, 81-531C(1).
| Decision Date | 03 August 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-531C(1).,81-531C(1). |
| Citation | 519 F. Supp. 749 |
| Parties | Burton Donald WOODS, Plaintiff, v. Jack DUGAN, Official Court Reporter, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
Burton Donald Woods, pro se.
Thomas W. Wehrle, St. Louis County Counselor, Donald J. Weyerich, Sp. Asst. County Counselor, Clayton, Mo., for defendant.
These matters are before the Court upon plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel and defendant's motion to dismiss. For the reasons stated below, plaintiff's motion will be denied and defendant's motion will be granted.
On May 11, 1981, plaintiff filed this pro se complaint alleging various violations of his civil rights, actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, plaintiff, who was found guilty by a jury in the St. Louis County Circuit Court on March 12, 1980, alleges that the court reporter's inability to prepare a transcript within the time frame set forth by plaintiff (not by his defense counsel) is a violation of the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial. Furthermore, defendant's inaction is an attempt to thwart his speedy "redress against his criminal conviction", and an imposition upon plaintiff's family of "grave emotional stress and strain and an indefinite ailienation sic from his family in violation of plaintiff's right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment...."
The Court will deal first with the request for appointment of counsel. Although plaintiff has filed an affidavit attesting to his poverty, and was granted leave to file this action in forma pauperis, the Court will deny plaintiff's request for appointment of counsel. 28 U.S.C. § 1915 allows the waiver of certain costs, and in turn fails to waive other such costs. Court appointment of counsel in civil litigation is left to the discretion of the court. The Court is of the opinion that because the plaintiff requests some One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) in monetary compensation, if the claim has merit then plaintiff should be able to locate an attorney who would accept employment on a contingent fee basis. See, e. g., Ferguson v. Fleck, 480 F.Supp. 219, 222 (W.D.Mo.1979). Accordingly, plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel will be denied.
With respect to the gravamen of plaintiff's complaint, the Court is cognizant that pro se complaints are held to less stringent standards and formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). However, this directive to liberally construe pro se complaints does not relieve any litigant of the duty to state a claim upon which relief can be granted in accordance with Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
In this instance, plaintiff is suing a court reporter for failure to provide a transcript on the state appeal in the case of State of Missouri v. Burton Donald Woods. Specifically, plaintiff is suing the court reporter of Division 11 of the St. Louis County Circuit Court, Jack Dugan, in his official capacity as official court reporter. Such personnel, when acting within their official capacity,...
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State ex rel. Scott v. Roper, 65918
... ... The ability to find a lawyer depends upon the degree of merit of the claim. Woods v. Dugan, 519 F.Supp. 749, 750-51 (E.D.Mo.1981) vacated on other grounds, 660 F.2d 379 (8th ... ...
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