Carol Bradley-Cousins v. Michael Cousins

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 27, 2025
• Docket: 23-1619
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 23-1619 Doc: 45 Filed: 06/27/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1619

CAROL J. BRADLEY-COUSINS,

Movant - Appellant,

v.

MICHAEL BRADLEY COUSINS, Administrator of the Estate of Michael Todd Cousins, Deceased,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

and

SHALONDA G. BLACK, LPN; SHI-MIKA EPPS, LPN; CAROLYN J. HAYES, LPN; POST CLOSING LLC, f/k/a Flexibility & Co., LLC, d/b/a FlexRN, LPN; SHEILA A. SPRADLIN, LPN,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. John A. Gibney, Jr., Senior District Judge. (3:22-cv-00416-JAG)

Submitted: March 27, 2025 Decided: June 27, 2025

Before WILKINSON, RUSHING, and BENJAMIN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. USCA4 Appeal: 23-1619 Doc: 45 Filed: 06/27/2025 Pg: 2 of 3

Carol J. Bradley-Cousins, Appellant Pro Se. John H. Click, Jr., BLACKBURN, CONTE, SCHILLING & CLICK, PC, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 23-1619 Doc: 45 Filed: 06/27/2025 Pg: 3 of 3

PER CURIAM:

Carol J. Bradley-Cousins appeals the district court’s orders approving the settlement

of a wrongful death action and disbursing the settlement funds. With respect to the order

approving the settlement, we have reviewed the record and find no reversible error. With

respect to the disbursement order, the record does not contain a transcript of the hearing in

which the district court stated its reasons for the disbursement decision. An appellant has

the burden of including in the record on appeal a transcript of all parts of the proceedings

material to the issues raised on appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 10(b); 4th Cir. R. 10(c). An

appellant proceeding on appeal in forma pauperis is entitled to transcripts at government

expense only in certain circumstances. 28 U.S.C. § 753(f). By failing to produce a

transcript or to qualify for the production of a transcript at government expense, Bradley-

Cousins has waived review of the issues on appeal that depend upon the transcript to show

error. See generally Fed. R. App. P. 10(b)(2); Keller v. Prince George’s Cnty., 827 F.2d

952, 954 n.1 (4th Cir. 1987). Additionally, on the record before us, we discern no error in

the court’s disbursement order.

Accordingly, we deny Bradley-Cousins’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis, and

we affirm the district court’s orders. We deny as moot the appellee’s motions to accelerate

this appeal. 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