Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-02054/USCOURTS-ca10-15-02054-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Robert G. Zitterman
Appellant

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

ROBERT G. ZITTERMAN, 

 Defendant - Appellant.

No. 15-2054

(D.C. No. 2:14-CR-04181-KG-1)

(D. N.M.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before HARTZ, MATHESON, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

Defendant Robert Zitterman appeals the district court’s March 5, 2015 order 

dismissing his appeal from the magistrate judge’s judgment of conviction. The 

government filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the defendant’s 

appeal to this court was not filed timely. The defendant filed a response to the 

government’s motion. Upon consideration, the government’s motion is granted, and this 

appeal is dismissed. 

A notice of appeal in a criminal case must be filed within 14 days after entry of the 

judgment or order being appealed. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A)(i). The timeliness 

requirement of Rule 4(b) is an inflexible claim processing rule. United States v. Garduño, 

506 F.3d 1287, 1290-91 (10th Cir. 2007). When the government properly invokes Rule 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

May 20, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 15-2054 Document: 01019433642 Date Filed: 05/20/2015 Page: 1 
2

4(b)’s claim processing rule, this court must enforce the time limitation in the rule. 

United States v. Mitchell, 518 F.3d 740, 744 (10th Cir. 2008). 

The government filed a motion arguing that the notice of appeal was untimely 

filed and the appeal should be dismissed. As an initial matter, we disagree with the 

government about the operative date from which the time to appeal should be calculated. 

Before appealing to this court, the defendant was required to appeal to a district judge 

first, which he did. See 18 U.S.C. § 3402. Because a final decision of the district court 

was a prerequisite to appeal to this court, see 28 U.S.C. § 1291, the operative date is the 

date the district court dismissed the defendant’s appeal of the magistrate judge’s 

judgment, i.e., March 5, 2015. Even considering this later date, however, the defendant’s 

notice of appeal was still untimely. The notice of appeal was filed 32 days after the 

district court’s March 5 order was entered, or 18 days after deadline to appeal expired. 

Therefore, the government is correct that the notice of appeal was late. 

The defendant’s response to the government’s motion to dismiss is unpersuasive. 

Accordingly, the government’s motion to dismiss this appeal is granted. 

APPEAL DISMISSED.

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

by: Lara Smith

 Counsel to the Clerk

Appellate Case: 15-2054 Document: 01019433642 Date Filed: 05/20/2015 Page: 2