Filed: May 03, 2010
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-7759 MICHAEL R. RAY, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. JAMES METTS, Sheriff Lexington County Sheriff’s Department; JIMMY GREGG; MIKE D. ILLES, Administrator Florence County Detention Center; JUNE STEWART, Employee FCDC; FLORENCE COUNTY, A Body Politic; LEXINGTON COUNTY, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge. (4:04-cv-2304
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-7759 MICHAEL R. RAY, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. JAMES METTS, Sheriff Lexington County Sheriff’s Department; JIMMY GREGG; MIKE D. ILLES, Administrator Florence County Detention Center; JUNE STEWART, Employee FCDC; FLORENCE COUNTY, A Body Politic; LEXINGTON COUNTY, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge. (4:04-cv-23048..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 09-7759
MICHAEL R. RAY,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
JAMES METTS, Sheriff Lexington County Sheriff’s Department;
JIMMY GREGG; MIKE D. ILLES, Administrator Florence County
Detention Center; JUNE STEWART, Employee FCDC; FLORENCE
COUNTY, A Body Politic; LEXINGTON COUNTY,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, District Judge.
(4:04-cv-23048-TLW)
Submitted: April 29, 2010 Decided: May 3, 2010
Before MOTZ and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Michael R. Ray, Appellant Pro Se. William Henry Davidson, II,
Daniel C. Plyler, DAVIDSON, MORRISON & LINDEMANN, PA, Columbia,
South Carolina, David Leon Morrison, MORRISON LAW FIRM, LLC,
Columbia, South Carolina; Benjamin Albert Baroody, BELLAMY,
RUTENBURG, COPELAND, EPPS, GRAVELY & BOWERS, PA, Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina; Jay Ritchie Lee, AIKEN, BRIDGES, NUNN, ELLIOTT &
TYLER, PA, Florence, South Carolina, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
Michael R. Ray appeals the district court’s order
allowing Appellees to file a corrected Suggestion of Death,
pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 25, and its adverse grant of summary
judgment and dismissal of his action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 (2006). Specifically, as to the second order, Ray
challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment
without considering his motion for summary judgment and after
allegedly restricting his ability to undertake discovery. We
affirm both orders.
We find no abuse of the district court’s discretion in
allowing the Suggestion of Death to be corrected by Appellees to
conform to Fed. R. Civ. P. 25, especially given that Ray failed
to demonstrate how the purported error affected any of his
substantial rights. Nor do we find any abuse of the district
court’s discretion relative to discovery prior to its adoption
of the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge and its
ruling on the motion for summary judgment. See Strag v. Bd. of
Trs.,
55 F.3d 943, 952-53 (4th Cir. 1995) (standard of review). *
*
Ray’s assertion of district court error in failing to
consider his motion for summary judgment is without merit. The
magistrate judge specifically reviewed Ray’s motion and found,
correctly, that it merely constituted a request for additional
discovery.
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Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order
allowing the correction of the Suggestion of Death, and its
dismissal of Ray’s action on summary judgment, on the reasoning
of the district court. We dispense with oral argument because
the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before the court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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