United States v. Pierce

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-8254
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CEPHUS PIERCE,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Florence. C. Weston Houck, Senior District
Judge. (4:03-cr-00474-CWH-24)
Submitted: February 19, 2009 Decided: February 26, 2009
Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Cephus Pierce, Appellant Pro Se. Alfred William Walker Bethea,
Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Florence, South Carolina,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Cephus Pierce seeks to appeal the district court’s
order denying his motion for reduction of sentence under 18
U.S.C. § 3582 (2006). In criminal cases, the defendant must
file the notice of appeal within ten days after the entry of
judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A); see United States v.
Alvarez, 210 F.3d 309, 310 (5th Cir. 2000) (holding that § 3582
proceeding is criminal in nature and ten-day appeal period
applies). 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 its order denying the
motion for reduction of sentence on September 23, 2008. Pierce
filed the notice of appeal on October 15, 2008, after the
ten-day period expired but within the thirty-day excusable
neglect period. Because the notice of appeal was filed within
the excusable neglect period, we remand the case to the district
court for the court to determine whether Pierce has shown
excusable neglect or good cause warranting an extension of the
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ten-day appeal period. The record, as supplemented, will then
be returned to this court for further consideration.
REMANDED
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