Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-05014/USCOURTS-ca10-15-05014-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
William Joe Rutherford
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

WILLIAM JOE RUTHERFORD, 

 Defendant - Appellant.

No. 15-5014

(D.C. No. 4:13-CR-00031-JED-1)

(N.D. Okla.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before LUCERO, MATHESON, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

Defendant William Joe Rutherford appeals the district court’s judgment of 

conviction and sentence. The notice of appeal was filed nearly a year after the filing 

deadline passed, however. As a result, we conclude that this appeal should be dismissed 

as untimely filed.

In a criminal case, a notice of appeal must be filed within 14 days after entry of the 

judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A)(i). In this case, the district court’s judgment was 

entered on April 3, 2014. The notice of appeal should have been filed by April 17, 2014. 

The notice of appeal was not filed until March 5, 2015, long after the 14-day filing 

deadline passed.

The timeliness requirement of Rule 4(b)(1)(A) is an inflexible claim processing 

rule rather than a jurisdictional limitation. United States v. Garduño, 506 F.3d 1287, 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

March 9, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 15-5014 Document: 01019395717 Date Filed: 03/09/2015 Page: 1 
2

1290-91 (10th Cir. 2007). Although the court is not required to dismiss a late-filed 

criminal appeal unless the government raises the issue first, the court is not prohibited 

from dismissing a late-filed criminal appeal sua sponte. The court may dismiss an 

untimely criminal appeal on its own when judicial or administrative efficiencies are 

implicated and the delay in taking the appeal was “inordinate.” United States v. Mitchell, 

518 F.3d 740, 750 (10th Cir. 2008). We find that raising untimeliness sua sponte is 

appropriate in this case.

Based on the foregoing, the appeal is dismissed as untimely.

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

by: Lara Smith

 Counsel to the Clerk

Appellate Case: 15-5014 Document: 01019395717 Date Filed: 03/09/2015 Page: 2