Johnell Bell, I v. George Lombardi , 709 F. App'x 381 ( 2017 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 16-3833
___________________________
Johnell A. Bell, I
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
George A. Lombardi, Director of Missouri Department of Corrections,
Individually and Officially; Dwayne Kempker, Deputy Director, Individually and
Officially; Terry Russell, Warden, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Jason
Lewis, Deputy Warden, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
Don Roper, FUM, ERDCC, (Retired), Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant
Fred Treece, Major, Chief of Custody, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; David
Vandergriff, Captain, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Randall Owens,
Investigator, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Ralph Sturdevant, Investigator,
ERDCC, Individually and Officially; David Howe, Correctional Officer II,
ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Sam McFerron; Jordan Villmer, Correctional
Officer I, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Timothy Jones, Correctional
Officer I, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Matthew W. Downs, Correctional
Officer I, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Margaret Huff, Correctional
Officer I, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Terry Russell, Jr., Correctional
Officer I, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
Tina Coffman, Nurse, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant
Kathy Moore, CCM, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
John Montgomery, FUM, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; John Doe,
Correctional Officer III, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Benjamin Dement,
Correctional Officer II, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; John Francis,
Correctional Officer III, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; John Doe,
Correctional Officer III, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants
Christopher Skaggs, CCM, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
Marge Riley, Nurse, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Todd Renshaw, Nurse,
ERDCC, Individually and Officially; David Mullen, Doctor, ERDCC, Individually
and Officially; Shanta Pribble, Medical Administrator, ERDCC, Individually and
Officially; Rosa Lee, Nurse Director, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants
Brock LaPlant, CCM II, Grievance Officer, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
Brett Ferguson, Doctor, ERDCC, Individually and Officially; Unknown Bates,
Investigator, ERDCC, Individually and Officially
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants
-2-
____________
Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
____________
Submitted: September 29, 2017
Filed: December 18, 2017
[Unpublished]
____________
Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
____________
PER CURIAM.
Missouri inmate Johnell Bell appeals the judgment the district court1 entered
in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action arising from an altercation he had with correctional
officers at Eastern Reception Diagnostic Correctional Center. The case proceeded to
trial, during which the district court adversely granted judgment as a matter of law on
some claims and the jury returned an adverse verdict on the remaining claims. Bell
challenges pretrial rulings on motions in limine, the court’s grant of judgment as a
matter of law, and the court’s handling of two evidentiary matters during the trial.
After careful consideration, we conclude that the court did not abuse its
discretion with respect to the challenged pretrial rulings. See United States v. Chaika,
695 F.3d 741, 744 (8th Cir. 2012) (noting that weighing the probative value of
evidence against its prejudicial effect is committed to the sound discretion of the
district court); cf. Holloway v. Alexander, 957 F.2d 529, 530 (8th Cir. 1992) (stating
1
The Honorable Carol E. Jackson, United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Missouri, now retired.
-3-
that no prejudice could result from the jury seeing what was already known). We
further conclude that the district court did not err in granting judgment as a matter of
law on some of Bell’s claims. See Sisk v. Picture People, Inc., 669 F.3d 896, 899 (8th
Cir. 2012) (reviewing grant of judgment as a matter of law de novo); see also Martin
v. Sergent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1337 (8th Cir. 1985) (noting that personal involvement is
a prerequisite to liability under § 1983); cf. Goulet v. New Penn Motor Express, Inc.,
512 F.3d 34, 43 (1st Cir. 2008) (applying harmless-error standard where a jury verdict
necessarily defeated a claim for which directed verdict was granted). Finally, as to
the evidentiary matters identified by Bell, we conclude that one was appropriately
handled by the district court sua sponte, cf. Parsons v. First Investors Corp., 122 F.3d
525, 529 (8th Cir. 1997) (concluding that district court appropriately handled
evidentiary matter by, inter alia, giving a curative instruction), and that the other, for
which there was no timely objection, did not result in plain error, see Powell v. Burns,
763 F.2d 337, 338 (8th Cir. 1985) (noting that failure to raise timely objection to
testimony waives any objection absent plain error).
Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
______________________________
-4-