FI L ED

U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T

J UL Y 1, 2009

THOMAS K. KAH

N

CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 8

- 1 5 5 5 2

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 5

- 2 1 0 8 0

- C V

- U U B

K E N N E T H F

. L E O N A R D

,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

,

v e r s u s

J O H N H O L M E S

,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l e e

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( J u l y 1

, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e B A R K E T T

, M A R C U S a n d A N D E R S O N

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.

P E R C U R I A M :

K e n n e t h F

. L e o n a r d

, a p r o s e s t a t e p r i s o n e r

, a p p e a l s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ sd e n i a l o f h i s m o t i o n t o r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l u n d e r F e d

. R

. A p p

. P

.

4 ( a ) ( 6 )

. L e o n a r d a r g u e s t h a t h e i s e n t i t l e d t o r e o p e n h i s t i m e t o a p p e a l b a s e d u p o n

t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t t o p r o v i d e h i m w i t h n o t i c e a n d c o p i e s o f t h e 2 0 0 6

s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t o r d e r a n d e n t r y o f f i n a l j u d g m e n t i n h i s § 1 9 8 3 c a s e a g a i n s t

c o r r e c t i o n a l o f

f i c e r J o h n H o l m e s

. A l t h o u g h L e o n a r d r a i s e s s u b s t a n t i v e c h a l l e n g e s 1

t o t h e 2 0 0 6 g r a n t o f s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t t o H o l m e s

, w e l a c k j u r i s d i c t i o n t o c o n s i d e r

t h e m e r i t s o f t h o s e c h a l l e n g e s

, b e c a u s e L e o n a r d d i d n o t f i l e a n o t i c e o f a p p e a l

w i t h i n 3 0 d a y s o f t h e o r d e r

, a s r e q u i r e d b y F e d

. R

. A p p

. P

. 4 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A )

. W e d o

, 2

h o w e v e r

, h a v e j u r i s d i c t i o n t o c o n s i d e r a n a p p e a l f r o m t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e n i a l o f

L e o n a r d ’ s m o t i o n t o r e o p e n f i l e d o n S e p t e m b e r 2

, 2 0 0 8

, b e c a u s e L e o n a r d f i l e d h i s

I t is unclear w hether

L eonar d actua lly

filed a motion to ext end or a motion to reopen the 1

time to file an appe al. At the district cour t, L eonar d ref

err ed to it as a motion to reopen a nd cited

to Rule 4(a)( 6), but the district court r efe rre d to it as a motion to ex tend. On appe al, Holmes

ref ers to it as a motion to ext end but cites Rule 4(a )(6) , which g overns motions to reopen. I n

addition, in his brief on appe al, L eonar d does not expli citly appea l the court’s de nial of his

motion to reopen and/or f or an e x tension of time. He doe s, howeve r, ar g ue that the district cour t

violated his due proc ess rig hts by failing to provide him with copies of the ma g istrate judg e’s

repor t and re commendation as w ell as the district cour t’s order s adopting that repor t, gr anting

summary judgme nt to the defe ndant Holmes, and a dminist ratively closing the ca se. I n light of

the fa ct that L eonar d is procee ding pr o se, we will consider on appe al whethe r L eonar d is

entitled either to a

n extension of tim e to file a n appea l or to reope n the time to file an a ppeal.

See B ox er X v. Har

ris, 437 F.3d 1107, 1110 ( 11th Cir. 2006) (“Pro se ple ading s are held to a less

stringe nt standard than ple ading s draf ted by attorney s and will, theref ore, be liberally

construed.” ). F or ea se of r efe renc e, howe ver, w e will ref er to both motions as a motion to

reope n.

The 30-da

y deadline f

or filing a notice of

appea l in a civil case is mandatory and 2

jurisdictional beca

use it is gr ounded in a f

eder al statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a). T he Supreme

Court rec ently

held that the time limits presc ribed by Fe d.R.App.P. 4(a), whic h car ries § 2107(c )

into practice and g overns the time limits for filing c erta in out-of-time appe als, is also mandatory

and jurisdictional. B owles v. Russell, 551 U.S. __, 127 S.C t. 2360, 2363-66 (2007).

2n o t i c e o f a p p e a l o n S e p t e m b e r 1 1

, 2 0 0 8

.

W e r e v i e w t h e d e n i a l o f a r e q u e s t t o e x t e n d t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l u n d e r

F e d

. R

. A p p

. P

. 4 ( a ) ( 5 ) f

o r a b u s e o f d i s c r e t i o n

. S e e A d v a n c e E s t i m a t i n g S y s

. , I n c

. v

.

R i n e y

, 7 7 F

. 3 d 1 3 2 2

, 1 3 2 4

- 2 5 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 6 ) ( a p p l y i n g t h e “ e x c u s a b l e n e g l e c t ”

s t a n d a r d t o e x c u s e u n t i m e l y n o t i c e s o f a p p e a l i n c r i m i n a l c a s e s t o a c i v i l c o n t e x t )

.

W e a l s o r e v i e w t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e n i a l o f a m o t i o n t o r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e a

n o t i c e o f a p p e a l u n d e r F e d

. R

. A p p

. P

. 4 ( a ) ( 6 ) f o r a n a b u s e o f d i s c r e t i o n

. S e e

M c D a n i e l v

. M o o r e

, 2 9 2 F

. 3 d 1 3 0 4

, 1 3 0 5 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 2 ) ( n o t i n g t h a t i s s u e o n

a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r c o u r t a b u s e d i t s d i s c r e t i o n b y d e n y i n g a r e q u e s t t o r e o p e n t h e

t i m e t o a p p e a l )

.

A d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a y e x t e n d t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n o t i c e o f a p p e a l i n a c i v i l c a s e

i f : ( 1 ) a p a r t y m o v e s f

o r a n e x t e n s i o n w i t h i n 6 0 d a y s o f t h e j u d g m e n t t o b e

a p p e a l e d ; a n d ( 2 ) a p a r t y “ s h o w s e x c u s a b l e n e g l e c t o r g o o d c a u s e

. ” F e d

. R

. A p p

. P

.

4 ( a ) ( 5 ) ( A )

. L e o n a r d m o v e d t o e x t e n d t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l o n F e b r u a r y 1 9

,

2 0 0 8

, o v e r o n e y e a r a f

t e r f i n a l j u d g m e n t w a s e n t e r e d i n h i s c a s e o n N o v e m b e r 2 8

,

2 0 0 6

. T h u s

, L e o n a r d f

a i l e d t o m e e t t h e 6 0

- d a y l i m i t s e t o u t i n R u l e 4 ( a ) ( 5 )

, a n d

t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i d n o t a b u s e i t s d i s c r e t i o n i n d e n y i n g r e l i e f

.

W e t u r n n e x t t o w h e t h e r L e o n a r d i s e n t i t l e d t o r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e h i s

a p p e a l

. U n d e r R u l e 4 ( a ) ( 6 )

, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a y r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l

3f

o r a p e r i o d o f 1 4 d a y s f

r o m t h e d a t e o f i t s o r d e r t o r e o p e n

, b u t o n l y i f a l l o f t h e

f o l l o w i n g c o n d i t i o n s a r e s a t i s f i e d : ( 1 ) “ t h e c o u r t f

i n d s t h a t t h e m o v i n g p a r t y d i d n o t

r e c e i v e n o t i c e u n d e r F e d

. R

. C i v

. P

. 7 7 ( d ) o f t h e e n t r y o f t h e j u d g m e n t

. . . w i t h i n 2 1

d a y s a f t e r e n t r y ” ; ( 2 ) t h e m o t i o n t o r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l “ i s f

i l e d w i t h i n

1 8 0 d a y s a f

t e r t h e j u d g m e n t o r o r d e r i s e n t e r e d o r w i t h i n 7 d a y s a f t e r t h e m o v i n g

p a r t y r e c e i v e s n o t i c e u n d e r F e d

. R

. C i v

. P

. 7 7 ( d ) o f t h e e n t r y

, w h i c h e v e r i s e a r l i e r ” ;

a n d ( 3 ) “ t h e c o u r t f

i n d s t h a t n o p a r t y w o u l d b e p r e j u d i c e d

. ”

T h e f i n a l j u d g m e n t i n L e o n a r d ’ s c a s e w a s e n t e r e d o n N o v e m b e r 2 8

, 2 0 0 6

.

L e o n a r d a r g u e s t h a t h e d i d n o t r e c e i v e n o t i c e o f t h e f i n a l j u d g m e n t u n t i l s o m e t i m e

a f t e r J a n u a r y 1 1

, 2 0 0 8

– w e l l o v e r 2 1 d a y s f r o m t h e 2 0 0 6 e n t r y o f t h e j u d g m e n t

–

w h e n t h e c o u r t m a i l e d

, a n d L e o n a r d a t s o m e p o i n t t h e r e a f t e r r e c e i v e d

, a c o p y o f

t h e d o c k e t s h e e t

. L e o n a r d f i l e d a m o t i o n t o r e o p e n t h e t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l o n 3

F e b r u a r y 1 9

, 2 0 0 8

, 3 9 d a y s f r o m t h e t i m e t h a t L e o n a r d w a s s e n t n o t i c e o n J a n u a r y

1 1

, 2 0 0 8

. I t i s u n c l e a r w h e n L e o n a r d a c t u a l l y r e c e i v e d t h e n o t i c e f o r p u r p o s e s o f

t h e 7 d a y l i m i t s e t f

o r t h i n 4 ( a ) ( 6 ) ( B ) ( 2 ) ; h o w e v e r e v e n h a d L e o n a r d f i l e d h i s

The re ceipt of the docket she et, althoug h it did not i nclude c opies of the mag istrate 3

judge ’s re port and the district c ourt’s orde r, wa s sufficient to constitute notice. See McDa niel v.

Moore, 292 F .3d 1304,1305-06 (11th Cir. 2002) (r ejec ting a ppellant’s ar g ument that “notice of

the entry ” under

Rule 4(b)(6) require s that a copy of the a ctual orde r be r ece ived to start the

clock unde r Rule 4(b)( 6) and c oncluding instead that the c ourt’s mailing of letter to a ppellant,

stating tha t his mot ion for re lief fr om judgment ha d been de nied on a c erta in date constituted

“notice of the entry ”).

4m o t i o n t o r e o p e n w i t h i n 7 d a y s o f r e c e i v i n g t h e J a n u a r y 1 1

, 2 0 0 8 n o t i c e

, h e d i d

n o t

, i n a n y e v e n t

, f

i l e t h e m o t i o n w i t h i n 1 8 0 d a y s a f t e r e n t r y o f t h e N o v e m b e r 2 8

,

2 0 0 6 o r d e r

, w h i c h w a s t h e e a r l i e r o f t h e l i m i t s p r o v i d e d i n R u l e 4 ( a ) ( 6 ) ( B )

. T h u s

,

b e c a u s e R u l e 4 ( a ) i s j u r i s d i c t i o n a l

, B o w l e s

, 5 5 1 U

. S

. a t

_ _ , 1 2 7 S

. C t

. a t 2 3 6 3

- 6 6

,

a n d c o m p l i a n c e w i t h t h e t i m e p e r i o d s s e t f o r t h i n R u l e 4 i s t h e o n l y m e t h o d o f

o b t a i n i n g r e l i e f f

o r f a i l u r e t o r e c e i v e n o t i c e

, s e e F e d

. R

. C i v

. P

. 7 7 ( d ) ( 2 )

, L e o n a r d i s

n o t e n t i t l e d t o r e o p e n h i s t i m e t o f i l e a n a p p e a l

.

A F F I R M E D

.

5