Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-16-01133/USCOURTS-ca10-16-01133-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Colorado Springs Police Department
Appellee
Criminal Justice Center
Appellee
Jane Doe
Appellee
El Paso County Sheriff
Appellee
Henson
Appellee
Bonita Johnson
Appellant
Torris
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

BONITA JOHNSON, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

HENSON, Judge; TORRIS, Deputy; 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE CENTER; 

COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE 

DEPARTMENT; EL PASO COUNTY 

SHERIFF; JANE DOE, Nurse, Criminal 

Justice Center, 

 Defendants - Appellees.

No. 16-1133

(D.C. No. 1:15-CV-02628-LTB)

(D. Colo.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before GORSUCH, HOLMES, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

This matter is before us on Appellant’s response to the court’s order questioning 

the timeliness of this appeal. Appellant urges that her delay in filing the notice of appeal 

should be excused because she misunderstood the time to appeal.

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

Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007). The notice of appeal in a civil case “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). This court lacks authority to grant any relief from the appeal 

deadline. The district court may extend the time for filing a notice of appeal based on a 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

May 13, 2016

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 16-1133 Document: 01019620446 Date Filed: 05/13/2016 Page: 1 
2

showing of excusable neglect or good cause. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5)(A). However, a 

party must request the extension within 30 days after the time to appeal expires, id., and a 

misunderstanding of the rules generally does not meet this standard, Pioneer Inv. Servs., 

Co. v. Brunswick Assocs., Ltd. P’ship, 507 U.S. 380, 392 (1993).

In this case, the district court entered judgment on March 10, 2016. The time to 

appeal expired 30 days later, on April 11, 2016, and the deadline for requesting an 

extension of time to appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) expired 30 days after that, on 

May 11, 2016. Appellant filed an untimely notice of appeal on April 18, 2016 and never 

asked the district court for an extension of time. Because Appellant’s notice of appeal 

was untimely, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

by: Jane K. Castro

 Counsel to the Clerk

Appellate Case: 16-1133 Document: 01019620446 Date Filed: 05/13/2016 Page: 2