Opinion
DA 22-0127
03-22-2022
STEVEN BRIAN LELAND, Petitioner and Appellant, v. STATE OF MONTANA, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, Respondent and Appellee.
ORDER
Representing himself, Appellant Steven Brian Leland has filed a Petition for Out-of-Time Appeal, explaining that, on January 20, 2022, he "mistakenly deleted the E-mail containing the Order on Petition for Judicial Review . .. [with] the denial[.]" Leland states that he did not file a timely appeal because he recently discovered his mistake on March 7, 2022. Leland includes a copy of a January 18, 2022 Order on Petition for Judicial Review, issued in the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County.
M. R. App. P. 4(6) allows this Court to grant an out-of-time appeal "[i]n the infrequent harsh case and under extraordinary circumstances amounting to a gross miscarriage of justice[.]"
Upon review, Leland's appeal is timely when he filed it with this Court because the State of Montana is a party. M. R. App. P. 4(5)(a)(i). In civil cases, when the State of Montana is a party, "the notice of appeal shall be filed within 60 days from the entry of judgment or order from which the appeal is taken." M. R. App. P. 4(5)(a)(i). Here, the sixty-day clock runs from the January 18, 2022 date, and the deadline to file an appeal would have been March 21, 2022. Leland filed his Petition for Out-of-Time Appeal with this Court on March 15, 2022. His appeal should proceed. Accordingly,
The sixty-day deadline ends on March 19, 2022, which is a Saturday. "[I]f the last day of the time limit falls upon a weekend or holiday, then the time limit is extended to the next business day." M. R. App. P. 3.
IT IS ORDERED that Leland's Petition for an Out-of-Time Appeal is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Leland shall prepare, serve, and file a Notice of Appeal with this Court on or before Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in accordance with the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure, M. R. App. P. 4(2).
The Clerk of the Supreme Court is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to Steven Brian Leland along with a copy of this Court's Civil Appellate Handbook.