Brown v. Williams , 282 F. App'x 282 ( 2008 )


Menu:
  •                              UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 08-6251
    TIRAN LATRAYER BROWN,
    Petitioner - Appellant,
    v.
    WILLIAM WILLIAMS; J. JOSEPH CURRAN, JR., Attorney General of the
    State of Maryland; JAMES S. SMITH,
    Respondents - Appellees.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
    Maryland, at Baltimore. William D. Quarles, Jr., District Judge.
    (1:06-cv-01696-WDQ)
    Submitted:   June 10, 2008                 Decided:    June 27, 2008
    Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Tiran Latrayer Brown, Appellant Pro Se. Gary E. O. Connor, OFFICE
    OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND, Baltimore, Maryland, for
    Appellees.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Tiran Latrayer Brown seeks to appeal the district court’s
    order denying relief on his 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     (2000) petition.    We
    dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of
    appeal was not timely filed.
    Parties are accorded thirty days after the entry of the
    district court’s final judgment or order to note an appeal, Fed. R.
    App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), unless the district court extends the appeal
    period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5), or reopens the appeal period
    under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).    Except as provided in Fed. R. App.
    P. 4(a)(6), neither this court nor the district court may extend
    the time to note an appeal more than sixty days after the judgment
    was entered.    Ali v. Lyles, 
    769 F.2d 204
    , 205 (4th Cir. 1985).
    This appeal period is “mandatory and jurisdictional.”    Browder v.
    Dir., Dep’t of Corr., 
    434 U.S. 257
    , 264 (1978) (quoting United
    States v. Robinson, 
    361 U.S. 220
    , 229 (1960)).
    The district court’s order was entered on the docket on
    October 29, 2007.   The notice of appeal was filed on February 3,
    2008.*   Because Brown failed to file a timely notice of appeal or
    *
    For the purpose 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
    court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c); Houston v. Lack, 
    487 U.S. 266
     (1988).
    We deny Brown’s request to treat his motion for an extension of
    time to “research [his] next move” as a notice of appeal nunc pro
    tunc, because the motion did not indicate Brown’s intent to seek
    appellate review. See Smith v. Barry, 
    502 U.S. 244
    , 248 (1992).
    - 2 -
    to obtain an extension or reopening of the appeal period, we
    dismiss the appeal.          We dispense with oral argument because the
    facts   and   legal    contentions    are     adequately   presented     in   the
    materials     before   the    court   and     argument   would   not    aid   the
    decisional process.
    DISMISSED
    - 3 -