United States v. Couch

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 11-6061
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
RONALD LEE COUCH, JR., a/k/a D, a/k/a Diablo,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.,
Senior District Judge. (2:98-cr-00099-HCM-1)
Submitted: February 4, 2011 Decided: March 18, 2011
Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Ronald Lee Couch, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Kevin Michael
Comstock, Assistant United States Attorney, Norfolk, Virginia,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Ronald Lee Couch, Jr. seeks to appeal his conviction
and sentence. In criminal cases, the defendant must file the
notice of appeal within fourteen days after the entry of
judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A). With or without a
motion, upon a showing of excusable neglect or good cause, the
district court may grant an extension of up to thirty days to
file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4); United States
v. Reyes, 759 F.2d 351, 353 (4th Cir. 1985).
The district court entered judgment on January 12,
1999. The notice of appeal was filed on January 3, 2011. *
Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, 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
*
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).
2