MALDONADO v. EMMONS

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION

PABLO F. MALDONADO, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:23-CV-505 (MTT) ) Warden SHAWN EMMONS, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ) ORDER On November 19, 2024, United States Magistrate Judge Amelia G. Helmick granted Defendants Ellis Efobi and Ana Cobb’s motions to set aside default and denied Plaintiff Pablo Maldonado’s motion for default judgment against Defendants Olugbemi Ayannuga, Shawn Emmons, and Deputy Warden Smith. Doc. 56. Maldonado filed an objection to the Magistrate Judge’s Order. Doc. 60. Maldonado’s objection was signed December 28, 2024, and was docketed as an objection to a non-dispositive Magistrate Judge order. Doc. 60. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72 and 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), objections must be filed within 14 days of service of the Magistrate Judge’s order or Report and Recommendation.1 Here, Maldonado filed the objection more than one month after the November 19, 2024 order setting aside default and denying his motion for default judgment. Compare Doc. 60 with Doc. 56. Maldonado has not offered any explanation to excuse or justify the delay. Even if Maldonado’s objection to the Magistrate Judge’s November 19, 2024 order is

1 “A party may not assign as error a defect in the [non-dispositive] order not timely objected to.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a); see TemPay, Inc. v. Biltres Staffing of Tampa Bay, LLC, 929 F. Supp. 2d 1255, 1260 (M.D. Fla. 2013) (collecting cases). timely, the Court still concludes that the Order is not clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a); see Addison v. Gwinnett Cnty., 917 F. Supp. 802, 808 (N.D. Ga. 1995). Rather, the Magistrate Judge properly set aside the default and denied Maldonado’s motion for default judgment for the reasons set forth in its Order. Doc. 56

at 3-4. It was neither clearly erroneous nor contrary to law to grant Defendants Efobi and Cobb’s request to set aside default and to deny Maldonado’s request to enter default judgment against Defendants Ayannuga, Emmons, and Smith. For the foregoing reasons, the Clerk is DIRECTED to TERMINATE Maldonado’s objection (Doc. 60). SO ORDERED, this 30th day of January, 2025. S/ Marc T. Treadwell MARC T. TREADWELL, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT