Opinion
CRIMINAL ACTION NO: 12-230
05-15-2013
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DARVELL HALL
ORDER AND REASONS
Darvell Hall moves for this Court to grant him permission to file his notice of appeal "out of time." For the following reasons, Hall's motion is denied.
R. Doc. 26.
I. BACKGROUND
On October 3, 2012, Darvell Hall pleaded guilty to a two-count Bill of Information charging him with making false claims to an agency of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 287 and 2, and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. Hall entered a plea agreement with the Government. Under the agreement, Hall agreed to waive certain appeal rights.
R. Doc. 16.
R. Doc. 19.
Id. at 3.
Hall filed this motion on April 18, 2013. He claims that he instructed his attorney on January 9, 2013, to file a notice of appeal and that his counsel indicated that he would file a notice of appeal. Hall states that his counsel told him that a notice of appeal had been filed, but that it would take one year to get a decision back. On February 27, 2013, Hall inquired whether a notice of appeal had actually been filed, and he discovered that it had not. Hall now asks this Court for an extension of the deadlines to file his notice of appeal.
R. Doc. 26 at 1.
II. DISCUSSION
The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that a defendant must file a notice of appeal within 14 days of the entry of judgment. A district judge may extend this 14-day deadline by no more than thirty additional days, and only after finding excusable neglect or good cause. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4) (noting that the district court may extend the deadline "for a period not to exceed 30 days from the expiration of the time otherwise prescribed by this Rule 4(b)"). This Court entered judgment on January 9, 2013. As a result Hall had 14 days, until January 23, 2013, to file his notice of appeal. If this Court were to extend this deadline by an additional thirty days, Hall would have had to file his notice of appeal by February 22, 2013. Hall filed this motion on April 18, 2013, far beyond this deadline. Hall filed this motion more than 44 days after February 27, 2013, the day he learned that no appeal was filed. Even if this Court were to find that Hall had good cause for his delay, this Court cannot extend the deadline beyond 30 days past the original deadline. See United States v. Willis, 431 Fed. App'x 364, 365 (5th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (affirming district court's denial of motion to extend time when defendant's motion was filed outside the 30-day window). Hall did not file a timely notice of appeal or motion for an extension. Accordingly, Hall's motion is DENIED.
R. Doc. 25.
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III. CONCLUSION
For the above stated reasons, Hall's motion is DENIED.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 15th day of May, 2013.
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SARAH S. VANCE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE