Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_09-cv-02097/USCOURTS-caed-1_09-cv-02097-15/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ANTHONEY LYNCH

Plaintiff,

v.

WARDEN OF PLEASANT VALLEY 

STATE PRISON, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 1:09-cv-02097-AWI-MJS (PC) 

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO REOPEN 

TIME TO FILE APPEAL 

(ECF No. 60)

CLERK OF COURT TO SERVE A COPY 

OF THIS ORDER ON THE NINTH 

CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

Plaintiff Anthoney Lynch is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 

pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Plaintiff initiated this action on December 2, 2009. (ECF No. 1.) The case was 

dismissed on February 27, 2015 for failure to state a claim. (ECF No. 58.) Judgement 

was entered that day. (ECF No. 59.)

On August 17, 2015, 173 days after judgment was entered, Plaintiff filed a motion 

for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal. (ECF No. 60.) The Court construed 

Plaintiff’s filing as both a motion for an extension of time and a notice of appeal. The 

motion to extend time was denied as untimely. (ECF No. 61.) The appeal was 

transmitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

On November 15, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded Plaintiff’s 

appeal to the district court for the limited purpose of determining whether Plaintiff’s 

Case 1:09-cv-02097-AWI-HBK Document 66 Filed 12/14/16 Page 1 of 3
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August 17, 2015 motion included a timely motion to reopen the time to file a notice of 

appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(6) and if so, to rule on said 

motion. In so doing, the Circuit Court noted that, according to the district court docket,

the February 27, 2015 judgment was not sent to Plaintiff until July 14, 2015.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A), a notice of appeal 

must be filed with the district clerk within thirty days after the entry of judgment or the 

order appealed from. However, a district court may reopen the time to file an appeal if 

the court finds the moving party did not receive notice of the entry of judgment within 

twenty-one days after entry and the motion to reopen time to file an appeal is filed within 

one hundred eighty days after the judgement is entered or within fourteen days after the 

moving party receives notice of the entry of judgment, whichever is earlier. Fed. R. App. 

P. 4(a)(6)(A) and (B). 

Construing Plaintiff’s motion as seeking to reopen the time to file an appeal, on 

November 8, 2016, the Court issued an order for Plaintiff to show cause why his motion 

to reopen time to file an appeal should not be denied as untimely. (ECF No. 64.) The 

Court noted that while it was true Plaintiff did not receive notice of the entry of judgment 

until months after it was entered, Plaintiff failed to file his motion to reopen time within 

fourteen days of his receipt of the entry of judgment, as Plaintiff’s August 17, 2015 

motion was mailed on August 11, 2015, twenty-eight days after the notice of entry of 

judgment was served on Plaintiff’s institution. (ECF No. 60 at 5.) 

Plaintiff was given twenty-one days to respond. The twenty-one day period 

elapsed and Plaintiff did not file a response, nor did he seek an extension of time in 

which to do so. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to reopen 

the time to file an appeal (ECF No. 60) is DENIED as untimely.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 13, 2016 /s/Michael J. Seng 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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