Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 OSCAR MALDONADO-ROMERO, Case No.: 3:26-cv-02366-RBM-SBC 9 Petitioner, ORDER: 10 v. (1) GRANTING MOTION TO 11 WARDEN OF IMPERIAL REGIONAL PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS DETENTION FACILITY, et al., 12 [Doc. 3]; Respondents. 13 (2) GRANTING MOTION TO 14 APPOINT COUNSEL [Doc. 2]; and 15 (3) SETTING BRIEFING 16 SCHEDULE 17 18 19 On April 13, 2026, Petitioner Oscar Maldonado-Romero (“Petitioner”), proceeding 20 pro se, filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 21 § 2241 (Doc. 1), an Application and Declaration to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 22 (“IFP Motion”) (Doc. 3), and a Motion for Appointment of Counsel Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 23 § 3006A (Doc. 2). 24 Petitioner represents that his family “has spent almost the remining of the entire 25 family’s savings on legal representation for [his] immigration case” (Doc. 1 at 6–7), and 26 attests in the IFP Motion that he has no means to pay the $5.00 filing fee. (Doc. 3 at 1–4.) 27 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Petitioner’s IFP Motion. The Clerk of the Court shall 28 file the Petition without prepayment of the filing fee. 1 I. MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL 2 “Whenever the United States magistrate judge or the [C]ourt determines that the 3 interests of justice so require, representation may be provided for any financially eligible 4 person who . . . (B) is seeking relief under section 2241, 2254, or 2255 of title 28.” 5 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2). A “financially eligible person” is one who is “financially unable 6 to obtain adequate representation in accordance with this section.” Id. § 3006A(a). “In 7 deciding whether to appoint counsel in a habeas proceeding, the district court must evaluate 8 the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to articulate 9 his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Weygandt v. 10 Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983) (citations omitted). 11 Here, Petitioner represents that he cannot afford an attorney for his habeas petition, 12 speaks Spanish and relies on other detainees to translate documents, and “would have great 13 difficulty presenting [his] case without the assistance of counsel.” (Doc. 2 at 1–2; Doc. 1 14 at 7.) “The Court also finds that representation is necessary given the complexity and 15 potential validity of the constitutional, statutory, and procedural issues presented.” Astafev 16 v. Warden, Case No. 3:26-cv-00313-RBM-AHG, ECF No. 4 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 30, 2026) 17 (citing Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). Accordingly, the Court 18 CONDITIONALLY APPOINTS Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. as counsel. 19 II. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 20 The Court finds that summary dismissal of the Petition is unwarranted. See Kourteva 21 v. INS, 151 F. Supp. 2d 1126, 1128 (N.D. Cal. 2001) (“Summary dismissal is appropriate 22 only where the allegations in the petition are vague or conclusory, palpably incredible, or 23 patently frivolous or false.”) (citation omitted); Alvarez v. Hill, 518 F.3d 1152, 1157 (9th 24 Cir. 2008) (noting that pro se complaints are liberally construed and do not need to identify 25 the constitutional source of the claims raised). 26 Petitioner may file an amended petition on or before April 24, 2026. Respondents 27 SHALL RESPOND to the amended petition on or before May 1, 2026. Their Response 28 shall include as exhibits all documents or evidence relevant to the determination of the 1 || issues raised, including any relevant documents reflecting Petitioner’s immigration history. 2 || Petitioner may file a reply on or before May 8, 2026. The matter will be deemed under 3 ||submission at that time and the Parties shall await further order from the Court. 4 The Clerk of the Court is directed to transmit a copy of the Petition (Doc. 1) and 5 Order to the United States Attorney’s Office and to Federal Defenders of San Diego, 6 ||Inc. Counsel for Petitioner SHALL FILE a notice of appearance on or before April 20, 7 2026. 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 ||DATE: April 16, 2026 10 eet Bernie, Moittagges □ 1 ON. RUTH BERMGDEZ! MONTENEGRO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28