Task: songer_judgdisc

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals. You will be asked a question pertaining to issues that may appear in any civil law cases including civil government, civil private, and diversity cases. The issue is: "Did the court's ruling on the abuse of discretion by the trial judge favor the appellant?" This includes the issue of whether the judge actually had the authority for the action taken, but does not include questions of discretion of administrative law judges. Answer the question based on the directionality of the appeals court decision. If the court discussed the issue in its opinion and answered the related question in the affirmative, answer "Yes". If the issue was discussed and the opinion answered the question negatively, answer "No". If the opinion considered the question but gave a mixed answer, supporting the respondent in part and supporting the appellant in part, answer "Mixed answer". If the opinion does not discuss the issue, or notes that a particular issue was raised by one of the litigants but the court dismissed the issue as frivolous or trivial or not worthy of discussion for some other reason, answer "Issue not discussed". If the opinion considered the question but gave a "mixed" answer, supporting the respondent in part and supporting the appellant in part (or if two issues treated separately by the court both fell within the area covered by one question and the court answered one question affirmatively and one negatively), answer "Mixed answer". If the opinion either did not consider or discuss the issue at all or if the opinion indicates that this issue was not worthy of consideration by the court of appeals even though it was discussed by the lower court or was raised in one of the briefs, answer "Issue not discussed".

PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff appellant sued the defendants for malicious interference with his contract rights, and on this appeal challenges four rulings of the district court: (1) denial of plaintiff’s motion for a jury trial, (2) denial of his motion for a continuance, (3) dismissal of the action for lack of prosecution, and (4) denial of plaintiff’s motion for a new trial.
Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure preserve the right of trial by jury, Fed.R.Civ.P. 38(a), a timely demand for a jury trial must be filed. Fed.R.Civ.P. 38(b), (d). Since the plaintiff failed to file such a demand, the district court properly denied the motion for a jury trial.
The granting of a continuance is a matter which lies within the sound discretion of the trial court, and the district court’s ruling on such motion will not be disturbed absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Montgomery v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 367 F.2d 917 (9 Cir. 1966). The plaintiff sought a continuance to enable him to contact material witnesses, but the record reveals that he had neither interviewed nor subpoenaed any of these individuals. The record further indicates that plaintiff knew nothing of the testimony he expected to elicit from these witnesses, and under these circumstances it is manifestly clear that the district judge did not abuse his discretion in denying the motion for a continuance.
District courts have “sound judicial discretion” to dismiss an action for “plaintiff’s failure to prosecute it with reasonable diligence * * Timmons v. United States, 194 F.2d 357 (4 Cir. 1952). The plaintiff had ample opportunity to develop evidence in support of his case, but he neither interviewed not subpoenaed witnesses whose whereabouts he knew. Furthermore, the plaintiff himself declined to testify. The district court’s dismissal of the action finds strong support in the record and was well within the court’s discretion.
The decision whether to grant or deny a new trial is also a discretionary matter with the trial court. Hopkins v. Coen, 431 F.2d 1055 (6 Cir. 1970); United States for Use and Benefit of Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Bucon Construction Company, 430 F.2d 420 (5 Cir. 1970). In his motion for a new trial the plaintiff asserted that he had discovered new evidence and that he had been prejudiced by reason of bias on the part of the trial judge. However, the plaintiff refused to disclose his newly discovered evidence to the court, implying that he feared such disclosure might result in intimidation of his material witnesses. This conduct on the part of the plaintiff made it impossible for the district court to appraise the alleged new evidence as a ground for granting a new trial. The plaintiff’s contention that the trial court was biased finds no support whatever in the record. Accordingly, we find that the district court acted properly in denying the motion for a new trial.
Finding no error in the challenged rulings, the action of the district court is affirmed.
Affirmed.

Question: Did the court's ruling on the abuse of discretion by the trial judge favor the appellant? This includes the issue of whether the judge actually had the authority for the action taken, but does not include questions of discretion of administrative law judges.
A. No
B. Yes
C. Mixed answer
D. Issue not discussed
Answer:

Answer: A