Henderson v. Ghosh

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendants-prison officials’ motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendants were deliberately indifferent to plaintiff-prisoner’s medical needs, where Dist. Ct. abused its discretion in denying two of plaintiff’s requests for recruitment of counsel that were made at start of case and during discovery stage of case. Dist. Ct. failed to focus on plaintiff’s low IQ, functional illiteracy and inexperience in civil litigation when denying his requests for recruitment of counsel, and instead improperly relied on existence of jailhouse lawyer who was assisting plaintiff. Moreover, factual and legal complexity of case required recruitment of counsel, where case involved complex medical terms and concepts about plaintiff’s kidney disease. Also, while Dist. Ct. eventually granted plaintiff’s request for recruitment of counsel to assist him at summary judgment stage of case, initial denials were prejudicial, where plaintiff had failed to present any medical evidence to support his claim, and where plaintiff had failed to depose defendants to determine their knowledge of his kidney disease.