In Re: Bernard Campb , 296 F. App'x 247 ( 2008 )

Opinions of the United
2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
10-17-2008
In Re: Bernard Campb
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 08-3904
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Recommended Citation
"In Re: Bernard Campb " (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 349.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/349
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HLD-155 (September 2008) NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
____________
No. 08-3904
____________
IN RE: BERNARD CAMPBELL,
Petitioner
_____________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(Related to E.D. Pa. Crim. No. 01-cr-0213)
_____________
Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
September 30, 2008
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: October 17, 2008)
____________
OPINION
___________
PER CURIAM.
Bernard Campbell filed this pro se mandamus petition pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1651, seeking an order that the District Court reopen the time to file a notice of
appeal with regard to its denial of his motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. §
2255. For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition.
1
By memorandum and order dated June 13, 2007, the District Court denied
Campbell’s § 2255 motion. Campbell did not file a timely appeal from that order. See
Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(B). However, on December 14, 2007, Campbell filed a Rule
4(a)(6) motion to reopen the time for an appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). The District
Court, without explanation, denied the motion on January 10, 2008. Campbell took no
further action until more than seven months later, when he submitted a petition for a writ
of mandamus with this Court on August 18, 2008. Therein he requests the same relief
that he sought in his Rule 4(a)(6) motion: that this Court reopen the time for an appeal of
the District Court’s denial of his § 2255 motion. In support of that request, Campbell
claims in his mandamus petition that the District Judge denied his Rule 4(a)(6) motion
“because of bias and prejudice.”
Mandamus is a drastic remedy available only in the most extraordinary of
circumstances. See In re Diet Drugs Prods. Liab. Litig., 418 F.3d 372, 378 (3d Cir.
2005). It is not a substitute for an appeal. See In re Chambers Dev. Co., 148 F.3d 214,
226 (3d Cir. 1998) (“[M]andamus is not a substitute for appeal and a writ of mandamus
will not be granted if relief can be obtained by way of our appellate jurisdiction”).
Campbell could have filed a notice of appeal from the District Court’s order denying his
Rule 4(a)(6) motion, see United States v. Rinaldi, 447 F.3d 192, 194 (3d Cir. 2006), and
he provides no explanation in his mandamus petition as to why he was unable to do so.
Thus, Campbell has not demonstrated that he is entitled to mandamus relief, and we will
2
deny his petition accordingly. Moreover, to the extent that Campbell is asking this Court
to grant him relief under Rule 4(a)(6), we are without authority to do so as that is the
province of a district court. See id.; Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).
3