In Re: Darryl Baker

Opinions of the United
2007 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
12-7-2007
In Re: Darryl Baker
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 07-3831
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Recommended Citation
"In Re: Darryl Baker " (2007). 2007 Decisions. Paper 113.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2007/113
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HLD-20 (November 2007) NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 07-3831
________________
IN RE: DARRYL ORRIN BAKER,
Petitioner
____________________________________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
(Related to W.D. Pa. Civ. No. 1:05-cv-00146)
_____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
November 16, 2007
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Filed December 07, 2007)
_____________
OPINION
_____________
PER CURIAM.
Darryl Baker, an inmate incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Facility in
Sandstone, Minnesota, filed a pro se Federal Tort Claims action that was dismissed by the
District Court on July 11, 2006.
On June 8, 2007, Baker filed motions seeking to re-open the time to file an
appeal and for service of the District Court’s Order of dismissal. The District Court has
not ruled on any of these motions. Almost two months later, on July 26, 2007, Baker
filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the District Court complaining that the Court
had not ruled on his motions, and had not instructed the Defendants to respond.
Baker now petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus ordering that the
District Court grant him permission to file a Rule 59(e) motion, a notice of appeal, and a
direct appeal. He further requests that we order the production of the District Court’s
Order in this matter, which he never received.
Mandamus is an appropriate remedy in extraordinary circumstances only.
See In re Diet Drugs Prods. Liab. Litig., 418 F.3d 372, 378 (3d Cir. 2005). To prevail,
the petitioner must establish that he has “no other adequate means” to obtain relief, and
that he has a “clear and indisputable” right to issuance of the writ. Id. at 378-79. A
federal appellate court may issue a writ of mandamus on the grounds that undue delay is
tantamount to a failure to exercise jurisdiction, Madden v. Myers, 102 F.3d 74, 79 (3d
Cir. 1996); however, the manner in which a district court controls its docket is
discretionary. In re Fine Paper Antitrust Litig., 685 F.2d 810, 817 (3d Cir. 1982).
Baker has demonstrated neither that he has no other adequate means for
relief, nor that his right to the writ is clear and indisputable. Baker’s motions have been
pending in the District Court for a mere five months, and we have no reason to doubt that
the District Court will timely take action in this case. Accordingly, we will deny the
petition.
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