Filed: Nov. 15, 2012
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-12834 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:04-cv-21485-ASG AKPANOLUO E. ETTEH, Plaintiff, CHUKWUMA E. AZUBUKO, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus WALGREEN EASTERN CO, INC., MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK SUPERIOR COURT, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, Massachusetts Appeals Court, llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees. _ Appeal from the Unite
Summary: Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-12834 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:04-cv-21485-ASG AKPANOLUO E. ETTEH, Plaintiff, CHUKWUMA E. AZUBUKO, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus WALGREEN EASTERN CO, INC., MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK SUPERIOR COURT, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, Massachusetts Appeals Court, llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees. _ Appeal from the United..
More
Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 12-12834
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:04-cv-21485-ASG
AKPANOLUO E. ETTEH,
Plaintiff,
CHUKWUMA E. AZUBUKO,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
WALGREEN EASTERN CO, INC.,
MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK SUPERIOR COURT,
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS,
Massachusetts Appeals Court,
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(November 15, 2012)
Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 2 of 4
Before WILSON, PRYOR and MARTIN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Chukwuma E. Azubuko appeals pro se the district court’s order denying his
second motion to reconsider the denial of his Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)
motion for relief from an order dismissing his pro se civil complaint.1 We affirm.
In 2004, Azubuko filed a civil complaint in the Southern District of Florida
against Walgreen Eastern Company, Inc., the Massachusetts Suffolk Superior
Court, and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. On July 21, 2004 the court sua
sponte dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Over seven
years later, Azubuko filed a Rule 60(b) motion for relief from the July 21, 2004
order dismissing his complaint. The district court denied the Rule 60(b) motion as
untimely, and alternatively as without merit. Azubuko thereafter moved for
reconsideration, which the district court also denied. On April 25, 2012 Azubuko
filed a second motion for reconsideration, which the district court denied on
May 3, 2012 for failure to show that his first Rule 60(b) motion was timely or
would have succeeded on the merits. On May 23, 2012 Azubuko timely filed a
notice of appeal indicating that he was appealing the court’s order dated May 3,
1
Although Akpanoluo E. Etteh is also listed as a plaintiff, Azubuko appears to be the sole
appellant in this case. To the extent that Azubuko attempts to appeal on Etteh’s behalf, as a pro
se appellant he may not do so. See Theriault v. Silber,
579 F.2d 302, 302 n.1 (5th Cir. 1978) (per
curiam) (noting that a pro se appellant who is not a member of the bar cannot perfect an appeal
on behalf of another unrelated individual).
2
Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 3 of 4
2012. On appeal, Azubuko vaguely argues that his original 2004 civil complaint
should not have been dismissed; he does not raise any arguments challenging the
basis for the district court’s May 3, 2012 order.
We review a district court’s denial of a Rule 60(b) motion only for an abuse
of discretion. Maradiaga v. United States,
679 F.3d 1286, 1291 (11th Cir. 2012).
“That review is narrow in scope, addressing only the propriety of the denial or
grant of relief and does not raise issues in the underlying judgment for review.”
Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) allows
for relief from a final judgment, order, or proceeding on the following grounds: (1)
mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered
evidence; (3) fraud; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied;
or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.
Although we liberally construe pro se briefs, “issues not briefed on appeal by a pro
se litigant are deemed abandoned.” Timson v. Sampson,
518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th
Cir. 2008) (per curiam).
Here, even if liberally construed, Azubuko’s brief contains no discernible
challenge to the court’s May 3, 2012 order denying his second motion for
reconsideration. Because the validity of the underlying July 2004 judgment
dismissing his civil complaint is not within the scope of Azubuko’s May 23, 2012
notice of appeal, Azubuko has therefore abandoned the only issue properly on
3
Case: 12-12834 Date Filed: 11/15/2012 Page: 4 of 4
appeal; which is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying his
second motion for reconsideration. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s
order.
AFFIRMED.
4