Court Opinion

ID: 9555443
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-12 00:00:24.711021+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:35:16.959484
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-30698        Document: 00516854935             Page: 1      Date Filed: 08/11/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit                                  United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                  Fifth Circuit

                                     ____________                               FILED
                                                                          August 11, 2023
                                      No. 22-30698                         Lyle W. Cayce
                                    Summary Calendar                            Clerk
                                    ____________

   Willie E. Berry, Jr.,

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                            versus

   Nicholas J. Sanders, Major,

                                               Defendant—Appellee.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Middle District of Louisiana
                               USDC No. 3:17-CV-318
                     ______________________________

   Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         William E. Berry, Jr., Louisiana prisoner # 354431, sued Nicholas J.
   Sanders, an employee of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and
   Corrections (DPSC), under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Sanders had used
   excessive force. A jury rendered a verdict in Sanders’s favor. Berry moved
   for a new trial, alleging that during discovery, DPSC had produced two

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-30698       Document: 00516854935          Page: 2    Date Filed: 08/11/2023

                                     No. 22-30698

   versions of the same logbook that differed in material ways, including as to
   the identities of officers assigned to his unit on the day of the incident. See
   generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a). The district court denied relief, concluding
   that Berry had not shown that the jury’s verdict was against the clear weight
   of the evidence, because he brought the discrepancies to the jury’s attention
   at trial and its verdict was based on a credibility determination. Berry appeals
   the denial of postjudgment relief. He does not challenge the jury’s verdict.
          Berry fails to show that the district court abused its discretion. See
   Seibert v. Jackson Cnty., Mississippi, 851 F.3d 430, 438 (5th Cir. 2017).
   Critically, Berry does not identify any error in the district court’s dispositive
   finding that he could not show prejudice because the jury was aware of the
   discrepant records when it rendered its verdict or otherwise explain how he
   was prejudiced.
          The judgment is accordingly AFFIRMED.

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