Greenough v. Gray ( 2023 )


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  • Case: 22-40190         Document: 00516682576             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/20/2023
    United States Court of Appeals
    for the Fifth Circuit
    United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    FILED
    No. 22-40190                    March 20, 2023
    Summary Calendar
    Lyle W. Cayce
    Clerk
    Randall T. Greenough,
    Plaintiff—Appellant,
    versus
    Sharilla Gray,
    Defendant—Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Eastern District of Texas
    USDC No. 9:21-CV-75
    Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
    Per Curiam:*
    Randall T. Greenough, an inmate confined at the Polunsky Unit of the
    Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division,
    appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for default judgment and
    dismissal of his complaint for failure to state a claim, under Federal Rule of
    Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
    *
    This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
    Case: 22-40190       Document: 00516682576          Page: 2    Date Filed: 03/20/2023
    No. 22-40190
    We review a district court’s denial of entry of default judgment for
    abuse of discretion. Lewis v. Lynn, 
    236 F.3d 766
    , 767 (5th Cir. 2001); see Trout
    Point Lodge, Ltd. v. Handshoe, 
    729 F.3d 481
    , 491 (5th Cir. 2013). We review
    a district court’s order on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim de
    novo. Christiana Tr. v. Riddle, 
    911 F.3d 799
    , 802 (5th Cir. 2018). Greenough
    argues that he is entitled to entry of default judgment because Gray filed her
    answer out of time—forty-one days after the district court issued an order to
    answer or otherwise plead to the plaintiff’s complaint, rather than the
    required forty. However, as the district court correctly found, Gray did
    comply with the order. She timely filed a motion to dismiss forty days after
    the order to answer was sent. See FED. R. CIV. P. 5(b)(2)(E) (service
    complete when filed or sent by electronic means, unless filer or sender learns
    that it did not reach the person to be served). The district court did not err
    in denying Greenough’s motion for entry of default judgment.
    Greenough’s brief fails to raise any argument challenging the district
    court’s dismissal of his complaint for failure to state a claim. He has therefore
    abandoned any challenge to the district court’s dismissal. Sissom v. Univ. of
    Texas High Sch., 
    927 F.3d 343
    , 349 (5th Cir. 2019) (citing Yohey v. Collins, 
    985 F.2d 222
    , 225 (5th Cir. 1993) (Although we liberally construe the briefs of pro
    se appellants, even pro se appellants must brief their arguments to preserve
    them).
    Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED. It is
    ordered that Appellant’s related motions for judicial notice are DENIED.
    2