Stukes v. Stafford

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 00-1582 GEROD STUKES, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus CLAUDE STAFFORD, individually, Defendant - Appellee, and JOHN NEWHART, individually, Defendant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Norfolk. Jerome B. Friedman, District Judge. (CA-99-1105-2) Submitted: February 28, 2001 Decided: April 24, 2001 Before WILKINS, MOTZ, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Beverly D. Crawford, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant. Jeff W. Rosen, Lisa Ehrich, PENDER & COWARD, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: At the close of Gerod Stukes’ presentation of evidence in his trial alleging employment discrimination, the district court granted Claude Stafford’s motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). Stukes appeals from that final order and also alleges that the district court erred by refusing to admit certain exhibits into evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Having reviewed the record and the parties’ briefs, we do not find that the district court abused its discretion in its chal- lenged evidentiary ruling. United States v. Fernandez, 913 F.2d 148, 152-53 (4th Cir. 1990). Regarding the district court’s order granting Stafford’s Rule 50(a) motion, we have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm on the reasoning of the district court. Stukes v. Stafford, No. CA-99-1105-2 (E.D. Va. filed Apr. 5, 2000; entered Apr. 6, 2000). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the mate- rials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 2