Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-06157/USCOURTS-ca10-15-06157-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

DARRELL LEE COOTS, 

 Petitioner - Appellant,

v.

H. A. RIOS, JR., Warden, 

 Respondent - Appellee.

No. 15-6157

(D.C. No. 5:13-CV-00835-M)

(W.D. Okla.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before KELLY, TYMKOVICH, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

We raise sua sponte the question of whether this court has jurisdiction to consider 

this appeal. Darrell Lee Coots seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his 

application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court 

entered its judgment on January 21, 2014. On May 1, 2015, Coots filed a motion to 

amend or withdraw his habeas application, prompting the district court, on May 28, 2015, 

to deny the motion as moot, based on its January 2014 disposition. On June 4, 2015, 

Coots filed a motion for clarification and extension of time to appeal, claiming he never 

received notice of the district court’s judgment. This motion is still pending in district 

court. On August 21, 2015, Coots filed a notice of appeal prompting the opening of this 

appeal.

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

August 28, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

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2

The timely filing of a notice of appeal is both mandatory and jurisdictional. 

Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007). In a proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a 

notice of appeal “must be filed with the district clerk within 30 days after entry of the 

judgment or order appealed from.” Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A); see also Manco v. 

Werholtz, 528 F.3d 760, 761 (10th Cir. 2008) (applying Fed. R. App. P. 4(a) time limit to 

§ 2254 proceeding). 

The district court is authorized to grant relief from this deadline by extending or 

reopening the time to appeal if certain conditions are satisfied. See Fed. R. App. P. 

4(a)(5) and 4(a)(6). A motion for extension of time under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) must 

be filed no later than 30 days after the time to appeal expires, in this case March 24, 

2014. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5)(A)(i). A motion to reopen the time to appeal under Fed. R. 

App. P. 4(a)(6), which is based on lack of notice of entry of the judgment, must be filed 

within (1) 180 days after entry of the judgment (here, July 21, 2014) or (2) 14 days after 

the moving party receives notice of entry of the judgment (here, June 11, 2015, assuming 

Coots received notice with the district court’s May 28, 2015 order), “whichever is 

earlier.” Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6)(B) (emphasis added). Although Coots filed his motion 

for extension of time to appeal on June 4, 2015, within 14 days of receiving notice, he did 

not file his motion by the earlier deadline, July 21, 2014. 

Because Coots’s motion for extension of time was not timely under either Fed. R. 

App. P. 4(a)(5) or Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6), the district court lacks authority to grant any 

relief from the filing deadline. Coots’s August 21, 2015 notice of appeal is clearly

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untimely and, therefore, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

by: Jane K. Castro

 Counsel to the Clerk

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