Rickie Green v. Herman Jonak

Arkansas inmate Rickie Green appeals the district court’s 1 dismissal, following an evidentiary hearing, of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint. Because Green was the sole witness at the evidentiary hearing, we agree with the district court that the issue was whether his action would survive a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a) motion for judgment as a matter of law at trial. See Johnson v. Bi-State Justice Ctr., 12 F.3d 133, 135-36 (8th Cir.1993). This court reviews de novo such a dismissal. See Johnson v. Cowell Steel Structures, Inc., 991 F.2d 474, 478 (8th Cir.1993).

Initially, we find that…