# United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted October 23

, 2019 *

Decided O ctober 23, 2019

Before

WILLIAM J. BAUER

, Circuit Judge

MICHAEL S. KANNE

, Circuit Judge

DAVID F. HAMILTON

, Circuit Judge

No. 1 8

- 3024

ROBERT HOSKINS

, Plaintiff

- Appellant

,

v

.

THOMAS MEZO

, et al.

, Defendants

- Appellees

. Appeal from the United States District

Court for the Southern District of Illinois

.

No. 3:14

- cv

- 01427

- DGW

Donald G . Wilkerson

, Magistrate Judge

.

O R D E R

Robert Hoskins, a prisoner held at Menard Correctional Center, maintains that prison officials were deliberately indifferent to ward unsanitary conditions in his cell. His Eighth Amendment suit went to trial, and the jury found in favor of the defendants.

He moved for a ne w trial based on newly discovered evidence, but the magistrate judge

denied the motion. On appeal, Hoskins primarily challenges that denial

. But he did not file a notice of appeal from the order denying the motion

, so we lack jurisdiction to

consider that challenge

. We otherwise affirm the judgmen t

.

* We have agreed to decide this case without oral argument because the briefs and record adequately present the facts and legal arguments, and oral argument would not significantly aid the court. F ED

. R. A PP

. P. 34(a)(2)(C)

. NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1No. 1 8

- 3024 Page 2

When Hoskins was transferred to Menard Correctional Center , he was assigned

to a cell that he says was contaminated with feces, blood, food waste, and bugs. He

contends that he asked a first

- shift officer for cleaning supplies but was rebuffed. Later that day, he continues, he r epeated his request to a second

- shift officer , but that officer

also refused ass istance

. That night, he asked once more of a third

- shift officer and again

was brushed off

.

Two days later, he turned to his counselor, telling her that he had asked officers on all three shifts for cleaning supplies but they all refused even though they could see that his cell was unsanitary. Hoskins asked the counselor to help him file grievances against the officers, but he says that she responded by telling him to “stop crying.”

Hoskins filed grievances against his counselor and the three officers wh o refused to give him cleaning supplies. He also sent letter s to the warden and the director of the Department of Corrections. Hoskins contends that the director ordered the warden to

fix the problem, but she took no action

.

Hoskins then sued the warden, the counselor, and the three officers for refusing to provide him a sanitary cell in violation of the Eighth Amendment

. The parties

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

During discovery, Hoskins moved, first, to compel the defendants to respond to his interrogatories and , then, to produce documents pertaining to his cell and any health inspections of it

. But the magistrate judge promptly dismissed these motions without prejudice upon recruiting counsel f or Hoskins

, so that counsel could evaluate how to proceed. Counsel did not renew the motions to compel or file any additional motions relating to discovery disputes.

The case proceeded to trial, and the jury returned a verdict for the defendants.

Eight days after trial

— and no longer represented by an attorney

— Hoskins filed

both a motion for reconsideratio n and a notice of appeal. In the motion, he attacked the sufficiency of the evidence and complained that he had not received all the requested documents pertaining to his cell conditions

. Two days later, he moved for a new trial

based on “ new ly discovered evidence ”

— an affidavit from a fellow prison er who worked as a porter cleaning cells in segregation and who disputed the defendants’

characterization of the prison’s policy for cleaning cells

.No. 1 8

- 3024 Page 3

T he magistrate judge denied both motions in a single order . The judge first

denied Hoskins ’s motion for r econsideration, concluding that the jury’s decision to credit the defendants’ testimony over Hoskins’s was not contrary to the manifest weight

of the evidence

. The judge also denied Hoskins’s request for relief based on newly

discovered evidence . This evid ence, the judge ruled , likely could have been obtained through discovery but, in any event, it was cumulative

, im material, and not likely to

have result ed in a different outcome at trial

. Hoskins did not file a separate notice of appeal challenging that order.

On appeal, Hoskins forgoes challenging the jury verdict and instead primarily

contends that the magistrate judge erred by denying his motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. But this argument is not properly before us. Under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(4)(B)(ii) , a party intending to challenge an order disposing of post

- judgment motion s

— here, Hoskins’s motion requesting a new trial

— must file a notice of appeal or an amended notice of appeal within 28 days after the

order has been entered. Hoskins filed his notice of appeal before the magistrate judge

denied his motion for a new trial , and h e did not thereafter file a new notice of appeal

or amend his notice to include an appeal of that order. We thus lack jurisdiction to

consider any argument about Hoskins’s post

- trial motion for a new trial

. See Gonzalez v.

Thaler , 565 U.S. 134, 147 (2012).

To the extent that Hoskins argues that the defend ants improperly refused to comply with his discovery requests or that the magistrate judge erred by not compelling the defendants to disclose certain evidence, his contention s lack support

. T he record does not reflect that Hoskins’s counsel was improperly denied any information that s he sought , and counsel did not renew Hoskins’s motion s to compel

. See, e.g. , Reed v. Freedom Mortg. Corp. , 869 F.3d 543, 548

– 49 ( 7th Cir. 2017) ( determining that counsel’s failure to compel production of documents foreclosed any argument about “missing evidence” ). Nor does Hoskins explain how any of the documents he sought would have affected his case or usefully supplemented the evidence that he h ad presented

. In short, the record does not demonstrate that the magistrate judge erred in resolving any discovery dispute

.

We have considered Hoskins’s remaining arguments, and none has merit.

AFFIRMED