Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-cv-01346/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-cv-01346-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Jonathan C. Bertanelli,

 Plaintiff,

vs.

Charles L. Ryan, et al.,

 Defendants.

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No. CV-11-1346-PHX-PGR (LOA)

 

 ORDER

 

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Court Order to File

Delayed Preliminary Injunction Appeal (Doc. 22), filed February 1, 2012, and on

Plaintiff’s Motion for “Stay of Ruling” on Plaintiff’s Motion Re Amended Complaint

During Pendency of Plaintiff’s Motion for Filing Delayed Preliminary Injunction Appeal

Ruling (Doc. 24), filed February 3, 2012.

On July 6, 2011, pro se Plaintiff commenced this civil rights action pursuant to 42

U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. 1). In the request for relief section of the Complaint, Plaintiff

requested in relevant part a preliminary injunction requiring the defendants to add specific

inmates to Plaintiff’s Do Not House With list. On September 12, 2011, the Court denied

Plaintiff’s request for preliminary injunction. (Doc. 5). 

In his pending motions, Plaintiff seeks an extension of the deadline to appeal the

Case 2:11-cv-01346-PGR Document 25 Filed 02/13/12 Page 1 of 4
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order denying his request for preliminary injunction. Plaintiff explains that he did not

receive the Court’s order denying his request for preliminary injunction until November

14, 2011 because he was hospitalized from September 3 to October 17, 2011 and ADOC

did not forward Plaintiff’s legal mail to the hospital. The docket reflects that the 

September 7, 2011 Order was returned to the Court as undeliverable on September 15,

2011, during the time Plaintiff was hospitalized. (Doc. 7). On November 7, 2011,

Plaintiff filed a notice of change of address prompting the Court to resend the September

7, 2011 Order to Plaintiff. (Doc. 10). Thus, the docket supports Plaintiff’s contention

that he did not receive the Court’s September 7, 2011 Order until November 14, 2011. 

Plaintiff further argues that, upon receipt of the September 7, 2011 Order, he began

researching whether he could appeal the order denying his request for preliminary

injunction. Because the prison law library did not contain the Federal Rules of Appellate

Procedure, on November 18, 2011, Plaintiff sent a letter to the United States Court of

Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requesting that information. While awaiting a reply from

the Ninth Circuit, Plaintiff requested assistance from the ADOC paralegal who advised

him that he did not have a right to appeal the denial of his request for preliminary

injunction. (Doc. 23). Plaintiff states that on January 28, 2012, he received a response

from the Ninth Circuit which contained the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

Petitioner learned that he could appeal the September 7, 2011 Order, but that the time to

do so had passed. Accordingly, Plaintiff filed the pending motion seeking an extension of

time. 

As Plaintiff concedes, the time for appealing the denial of his request for

preliminary injunction has passed. Circuit Rule 3-3; Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure

4(a) (stating that a notice of appeal “must be filed with the district clerk within 30 days

after the judgment or order appealed from is entered.”). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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4(a)(5) provides that:

(A) The district court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal if:

(i) the party so moves no later than 30 days after the time prescribed by

 this Rule 4(a) expires; and

(ii) regardless of whether its motion is before or during the 30 days after

the time prescribed by this Rule 4(a) expires, that party shows excusable 

neglect or good cause.

* * *

(C) No extension under this Rule 4(a)(5) may exceed 30 days after the 

prescribed time or 14 days after the date when the order granting the 

motion is entered, whichever is later. 

Id. (emphasis added).

Here, the order Plaintiff seeks to appeal was entered on September 12, 2011. 

(Doc. 5). Plaintiff had thirty days to file a notice of appeal, and Plaintiff had sixty days in

which to file a motion for more time to appeal. Plaintiff’s motion for extension of time

was not filed until February 1, 2012. It is now too late for the Court to extend the time in

which Plaintiff can appeal pursuant to Rule 4(a)(5). 

The Court notes that, if certain conditions are met, the district court has the

statutory authority to grant a motion to reopen the time for filing an appeal for 14

additional days. 28 U.S.C. § 2107(c). Rule 4(a)(6) of the Federal Rules of Appellate

Procedure provides the court’s authority to reopen and extend the time for filing a notice

of appeal after the lapse of the usual 30 days. Rule 4(a)(6) provides:

The district court may reopen the time to file an appeal for a period of 14 

days after the date when its order to reopen is entered, but only if all the 

following conditions are satisfied:

(A) the court finds that the moving party did not receive notice under

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 77(d) of the entry of the judgment or order

sought to be appealed within 21 days after entry;

(B) the motion is filed within 180 days after the judgment or order is entered 

or within 14 days after the moving party receives notice under Federal Rule

of Civil Procedure 77(d) of the entry, whichever is earlier; and

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(C) the court finds that no party would be prejudiced.

Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(6) (emphasis added). Rule 4(a)(6) provides no assistance to Plaintiff

because he does not satisfy subsection (B). Specifically, his February 1, 2012 motion to

file a late appeal was not filed within 14 days after he received notice on November 14,

2011 of order he seeks to appeal. Thus, the Court is not authorized to re-open the time in

which Plaintiff could appeal. The Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion requesting

permission to appeal because it lacks the authority to grant Plaintiff’s request. See

Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 213-14, 127 S.Ct. 2360, 2366 (2007) (Supreme Court

ruled that the timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional

requirement and that a federal court has no authority to create equitable exceptions to the

jurisdictional time limits for extending the time to appeal set forth in Fed.R.App.P.

4(a)(6).) The Court will also deny Plaintiff’s related motion to stay as moot. 

Accordingly, 

IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Court Order to File Delayed

Preliminary Injunction Appeal (Doc. 22) is DENIED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for “Stay of Ruling” on

Plaintiff’s Motion Re Amended Complaint During Pendency of Plaintiff’s Motion for

Filing Delayed Preliminary Injunction Appeal Ruling (Doc. 24) is DENIED as moot. 

DATED this 13th day of February, 2012.

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