Guzman-Rivera v. Rivera-Cruz

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
No. 97-1743
HECTOR GUZMAN-RIVERA, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
HECTOR RIVERA-CRUZ, ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellees.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortiz, Senior U.S. District Judge]
Before
Torruella, Chief Judge,
Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
Juan R. Requena Davila and Law Offices Alvaro R. Calderon, Jr. on
brief for appellant.
Esther Castro Schmidt and Gaztambide & Plaza on brief for
appellees.
October 14, 1997
Per Curiam. We have reviewed the briefs submitted by
the parties and the record on appeal, and we affirm.
Appellants argue the court abused its discretion when it
dismissed the action without prejudice after being advised
the appellants could not locate two essential witnesses.
An abuse of discretion may not be found unless the
court's error resulted in substantial prejudice to the
movant. United States v. Saccoccia, 58 F.3d 754, 770 (1st
Cir. 1995). We see no prejudice here, since the district
court offered appellants the opportunity to return to court
if they were able to locate their witnesses within a
reasonable amount of time.
Affirmed. Loc. R. 27.1.
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