Natalie Reighard v. Wayne Longo

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Natalie Reighard appeals pro se from the entry of judgment against her on a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim that Officer Jared Reneau of the City of Coeur d’Alene groped her during a search incident to arrest. The case went to trial and at the conclusion of evidence Reighard filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court denied the motion, concluding there was a factual dispute for the jury to resolve. Reighard subsequently filed a Rule 50(b) motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial. In her notice of appeal, Reighard limited her appeal to the denial of the Rule 50(a) motion. We affirm.

Because Reighard did not appeal the district court’s denial of her Rule 50(b) motion we are limited to examining whether or not the district court erred in denying her pre-trial Rule 50(a) motion. As the Supreme Court has explained, under Rule 50(a), “while a district court is permitted to enter judgment as a matter of law when it concludes the evidence is legally insufficient, it is not required to do so.” Unitherm Food Systems v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., 546 U.S. 394, 405 , 126 S.Ct.…