Court Opinion

ID: 9962889
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-23 23:05:51.278428+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:20:40.083866
License: Public Domain

04/23/2024

            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA                                Case Number: DA 24-0135

                                       DA 24-0135

 STATE OF MONTANA,                                                        APR 2 3 2024
                                                                         Bowen GI eenwood
             Plaintiff and Appellee,                                  Citsfk. of Supreme
                                                                                         court
                                                                         State of montarha

       v.                                                           ORDER

 KINGSLEY U. ARIEGWE,

             Defendant and Appellant.

       Before this Court are three motions filed by self-represented Appellant Kingsley U.
Ariegwe: Motion To Compel the Production of Discovery; Motion for Appointment of
Counsel; and Motion for Extension of Time. Kingsley appeals a February 22, 2024 Order
Denying Motion for New Trial, issued in the Cascade County District Court.
       Ariegwe states that he wants documents #89 and #90 concerning the jury list and
the jury list with challenges. He asks that this Court compel the Clerk of District Court,
the County Attorney's Office, the Appellate Defender Division, and the Sheriff's Office to
produce the documents for his pending appeal. Ariegwe further requests appointment of
counsel "during this Critical Stage of this proceeding against him[.]" Ariegwe requests a
thirty-day extension of time to file his opening brief, which is presently due May 2, 2024.
       Ariegwe is not entitled to his request for discovery production or for counsel's
representation. A motion to compel discovery, pursuant to M. R. Civ. P. 26, is applicable
only to a district court and not this Court, an appellate court of review. M. R. Civ. P. 1.
For appeal purposes, the record is defined as "the original papers and exhibits filed in the
district court[.]" M. R. App. P. 8(1). This Court received the record on April 2, 2024. This
Court observes that, due to the twenty years since the District Court convicted and
sentenced Ariegwe, many of the non-permanent documents were purged in the court's
record, as noted in this Court's electronic database. There is no right to the appointment
of counsel in a postconviction proceeding for relief, although a court may order the
assignment of counsel under the circumstances outlined in § 46-8-104, MCA. Ariegwe is
not entitled to court-appointed counsel in this appeal. He represented himself in the District
Court.     He has not demonstrated that extraordinary circumstances exist to justify
appointment of counsel, pursuant to § 46-8-104(3), MCA.
         Given the foregoing, however, Ariegwe is entitled to an extension of time to file his
opening brief. Therefore,
         IT IS ORDERED that:
         1. Ariegwe's Motion To Compel the Production of Discovery is DENIED;
         2. Ariegwe's Motion for Appointment of Counsel is DENIED; and
         3. Ariegwe's Motion for Extension of Time is GRANTED. Ariegwe shall prepare,
            file, and serve his opening brief on or before June 3, 2024.
         The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to
Kingsley U. Ariegwe along with a copy of this Court's Appellate Handbook for reference
to the Montana Rules of A pellate Procedure and access to its forms.
         DATED this e3       ay of April, 2024.
                                                   For the Court,

                                                                 Chief Justice

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