[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 97-1743

HECTOR GUZMAN-RIVERA, ET AL.,

Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.

HECTOR RIVERA-CRUZ, ET AL.,

Defendants, Appellees.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortiz, Senior U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge,

Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.

Juan R. Requena Davila and Law Offices Alvaro R. Calderon, Jr. on

brief for appellant. Esther Castro Schmidt and Gaztambide & Plaza on brief for

appellees.

October 14, 1997

Per Curiam. We have reviewed the briefs submitted by

the parties and the record on appeal, and we affirm.

Appellants argue the court abused its discretion when it

dismissed the action without prejudice after being advised

the appellants could not locate two essential witnesses.

An abuse of discretion may not be found unless the

court's error resulted in substantial prejudice to the

movant. United States v. Saccoccia,

(1st

Cir. 1995). We see no prejudice here, since the district

court offered appellants the opportunity to return to court

if they were able to locate their witnesses within a

reasonable amount of time.

Affirmed. Loc. R. 27.1.

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