Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-03212/USCOURTS-ca10-15-03212-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Mario Castillo
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

MARIO CASTILLO, 

 Defendant - Appellant.

No. 15-3212

(D.C. No. 2:07-CR-20100-JWL-4)

(D. Kan.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before HARTZ, PHILLIPS, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

This matter is before the court on the government’s motion to dismiss and the 

response filed thereto. The government argues that the appeal should be dismissed 

because the notice of appeal is untimely.

The district court denied the defendant’s 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) motion in an order 

entered on July 13, 2015. The defendant filed a motion to reconsider on July 31, 2015. 

That motion was denied on August 4, 2015. The defendant filed a brief, which was 

treated as the functional equivalent of a notice of appeal, on August 31, 2015. See Smith 

v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244, 248-49 (1992) (“If a document filed within the time specified by 

Rule 4 gives the notice required by Rule 3, it is effective as a notice of appeal.”).

In a criminal appeal, the defendant’s notice of appeal is to be filed within 14 days 

of entry of the order being appealed. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A). Here, the notice of 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

November 12, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 15-3212 Document: 01019522168 Date Filed: 11/12/2015 Page: 1 
2

appeal was filed more than 14 days after entry of the order denying the defendant’s § 

3582(c)(2) motion. The motion for reconsideration did not stay the time to appeal 

because it was not filed within 14 days of the date the order was entered. See United 

States v. Randall, 666 F.3d 1238, 1243 (10th Cir. 2011). Moreover, the notice of appeal 

was not filed within 14 days of the date the district court order denying the motion for 

reconsideration was entered. 

Rule 4(b)(1)(A) is an “inflexible claim-processing rule[], which unlike a 

jurisdictional rule, may be forfeited if not properly raised by the government.” United 

States v. Garduno, 506 F.3d 1287, 1291 (10th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation omitted). 

However, “[b]ecause the government timely objected to [the defendant’s] late notice of 

appeal, this court is bound to dismiss the appeal.” Id. at 1292. 

The government’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED. The defendant’s motion to 

reduce his sentence is denied. This appeal is DISMISSED. A copy of this order shall 

stand as and for the mandate of the court. 

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

by: Ellen Rich Reiter

 Jurisdictional Attorney

Appellate Case: 15-3212 Document: 01019522168 Date Filed: 11/12/2015 Page: 2