Leonard Harris v. Albert Presto

UNPUBLISHED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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.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,

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2
Hunt Valley, Maryland, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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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
1 Prior to trial, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of Jennifer Berner as a
defendant.
2 The parties consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).

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