Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-15-01721/USCOURTS-ca4-15-01721-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Halifax County Circuit Court
Appellee
Amy Seresa Zimmerman-Elliott
Appellant

Document Text:

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-1721

AMY SERESA ZIMMERMAN-ELLIOTT,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

HALIFAX COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT,

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony J. Trenga, 

District Judge. (1:15-cv-00324-AJT-JFA)

Submitted: October 8, 2015 Decided: October 22, 2015

Before KEENAN and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior 

Circuit Judge.

Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Amy Seresa Zimmerman-Elliott, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:

Amy Seresa Zimmerman-Elliott seeks to appeal the district 

court’s order dismissing without prejudice her civil complaint 

for failure to state a claim. In a civil case in which the 

United States is not a party, parties have 30 days following the 

entry of the district court’s final judgment or order in which 

to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A). 

However, if a party moves for an extension of time to appeal 

within 30 days after expiration of the original appeal period 

and demonstrates excusable neglect or good cause, a district 

court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. 

App. P. 4(a)(5)(A); Washington v. Bumgarner, 882 F.2d 899, 900–

01 (4th Cir. 1989).

The district court’s final order in this case was entered 

on May 8, 2015. Zimmerman-Elliott filed her notice of appeal on 

June 19, 2015, after the expiration of the 30-day appeal period 

but within the excusable neglect period. Zimmerman-Elliott’s 

notice of appeal contained language that fairly can be construed 

as a request for an extension of time to appeal. Accordingly, 

we remand this case to the district court for the limited 

purpose of determining whether Zimmerman-Elliott has 

demonstrated excusable neglect or good cause warranting an 

extension of the 30-day appeal period. The record, as 

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supplemented, will then be returned to this Court for further 

consideration.

REMANDED

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