United States v. Darryl Wiggins , 548 F. App'x 76 ( 2013 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-6726
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
DARRYL LEON WIGGINS, a/k/a Go Go,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Newport News. Arenda Wright Allen,
District Judge. (4:11-cr-00055-AWA-DEM-4)
Submitted: December 13, 2013 Decided: December 18, 2013
Before NIEMEYER, KING, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Darryl Leon Wiggins, Appellant Pro Se. Richard Daniel Cooke,
Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond, Virginia; Laura
Pellatiro Tayman, Assistant United States Attorney, Newport
News, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Darryl Leon Wiggins seeks to appeal his conviction and
140-month sentence following his guilty plea to conspiracy to
distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram
or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)
(2012). In a criminal case, a defendant must file his notice of
appeal within fourteen days after the entry of judgment. Fed.
R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A)(i). With or without a motion, upon a
showing of excusable neglect or good cause, the district court
may grant an extension of the time to file a notice of appeal,
up to thirty days. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4); United States v.
Reyes, 759 F.2d 351, 353 (4th Cir. 1985).
The district court entered the criminal judgment on
December 6, 2011. 1 Wiggins filed his notice of appeal no earlier
than April 25, 2013. 2 Because Wiggins failed to file a timely
notice of appeal or obtain an extension of the appeal period, we
1
Wiggins’ notice of appeal states that he is seeking leave
to appeal the judgment entered on September 19, 2011. Because
this was the date of Wiggins’ plea hearing, we construe Wiggins’
notice of appeal as an attempt to challenge the criminal
judgment entered against him.
2
For purposes of this appeal, we assume that the date
appearing on the notice of appeal is the earliest date it could
have been properly delivered to prison officials for mailing to
the district court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c); Houston v. Lack, 487
U.S. 266, 276 (1988).
2
dismiss the appeal. 3 We dispense with oral argument because the
facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED
3
We note that the appeal period in a criminal case is not a
jurisdictional provision but, rather, a claim-processing rule.
Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 209-14 (2007); United States v.
Urutyan, 564 F.3d 679, 685 (4th Cir. 2009). Because Wiggins’
appeal is inordinately late, and the issues he seeks to raise do
not appear to be meritorious, we exercise our inherent power to
dismiss it. United States v. Mitchell, 518 F.3d 740, 744, 750
(10th Cir. 2008).
3