USCA4 Appeal: 23-1124 Doc: 23 Filed: 08/15/2024 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1124

LEONARD HARRIS, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. ALBERT PRESTO, Defendant - Appellee, and JENNIFER BERNER, Defendant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.

Albert David Copperthite, Magistrate Judge. (1:21-cv-00779-ADC)

Submitted: July 1, 2024 Decided: August 15, 2024

Before RICHARDSON and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Leonard Harris, Appellant Pro Se. Jeanie S. Ismay, KIERNAN TREBACH, LLP, Washington, D.C.; Yosef Yoel Kuperman, LAW OFFICES OF FRANK F. DAILY, PA, USCA4 Appeal: 23-1124 Doc: 23 Filed: 08/15/2024 Pg: 2 of 3

Hunt Valley, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

USCA4 Appeal: 23-1124 Doc: 23 Filed: 08/15/2024 Pg: 3 of 3

PER CURIAM: Leonard Harris filed a state law negligence claim against Defendants. The action was removed to federal court, and a jury ultimately found in favor of Defendant Albert Presto. 1 Harris now appeals the magistrate judge’s judgment entered pursuant to the jury verdict. 2 Harris also appeals the magistrate judge’s subsequent text order denying Harris’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 59 motion for a new trial as untimely and as without merit. We have reviewed the record, including the transcript of the jury trial, and find no reversible error.

Although the magistrate judge erred in finding that Harris’ motion for a new trial was untimely, we affirm the magistrate judge’s text order denying the motion on the basis that the motion lacked any meritorious basis for a new trial. Accordingly, we affirm the magistrate judge’s judgment and order. Harris v. Presto, 1:21-cv-00799-ADC (D. Md. Oct. 21, 2022; Jan. 3, 2023). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

Prior to trial, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of Jennifer Berner as a defendant.

The parties consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).