US v. Eric Morrison

Filing

OPINION/ORDER DIRECTING LIMITED REMAND [4CCA retains jurisdiction]. Originating case number: 5:07-cr-00050-RLV-DSC-2. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. Mailed to: Eric Morrison. [999904231] [16-6141]

Appeal: 16-6141

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-6141

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ERIC WILFORD MORRISON,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Statesville.
Richard L.
Voorhees, District Judge.
(5:07-cr-00050-RLV-DSC-2; 5:12-cv00147-RLV)

Submitted:

July 29, 2016

Decided:

August 4, 2016

Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Eric Wilford Morrison, Appellant Pro Se.
Erin Elizabeth
Comerford, Thomas A. O’Malley, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY,
Charlotte,
North
Carolina,
Amy
Elizabeth
Ray,
Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Eric Morrison seeks to appeal the district court’s order
dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion.

When the United

States or its officer or agency is a party to a civil action,
parties are accorded 60 days after the entry of the district
court’s final judgment or order to note an appeal.
P. 4(a)(1)(B).

Fed. R. App.

However, the district court may extend the time

to file a notice of appeal if a party moves for an extension of
the appeal period within 30 days after the expiration of the
original

appeal

period

and

demonstrates

good cause to warrant an extension.

excusable

neglect

or

Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5);

Washington v. Bumgarner, 882 F.2d 899, 900-01 (4th Cir. 1989).
“[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a
jurisdictional requirement.”

Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205,

214 (2007).
Here, the district court’s final judgment was entered on
the docket on October 21, 2015.

Morrison’s first notice of

appeal was filed, at the latest, on January 14, 2016, see Fed.
R. App. P. 4(c), (d); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 270 (1988),
outside
period.

the

appeal

The

period

notice

of

but

within

appeal

the

contains

excusable
language

neglect
that

we

liberally construe as a request for an extension of time to
appeal.

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Accordingly, we remand this case to the district court for
the

limited

demonstrated
extension

of

purpose
excusable
the

of

determining

neglect

60-day

or

appeal

good

whether
cause

period.

Morrison

has

warranting

an

The

record,

as

supplemented, will then be returned to this court for further
consideration.
REMANDED

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