UNITED STAT ES COURT OF AP P EALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

N O

. 02-80

E DW AR D H AC K E TT , J R ., A PP EL L ANT ,

V

. ANTHONY J. P RI NCI PI , S EC RE T A RY O F V ET ER A N S A FF A I RS , A PPEL L EE

.

Be fore GREENE, KASOL D, and HA GEL , Judges

. O R D E R

I n a January

8, 2003, single -judg e orde r, the Court vac ated a J anuar y 7, 2002, Boa

rd of Ve te ra ns ' A p p e a l s ( B o a

r d ) d e c i s i o nt h a td e c l i n e d t o r e o p e nM r

. E dw ar d

H a c k e t t ' s p r e v i o u s ly dis a llo we d c la im f

or se rv ic e c on ne c tio n f

or re tin iti s p ig me nto sa

and re mand e d the ma tte r b e c a us e VA had f ailed in its duty

to notify under 38 U .S.C. § 5103(a). The Court, on Ma rch 6, 2003, e ntere d jud g me nt, and

the Se c re tary

a pp e a le d to the Un ite d State s Court of Ap pe a ls f

or the F e de ra l Cir c uit (F e de ra l Cir c uit ). Th e F e de ra l Cir c uit , o n M ay 6, 20 04 , g ra

nte d th e Se c re tary ' s mo tio n to va c a te thi s Court's January 2003 order and remanded the matter to t he Court for r econside ration in light of the Fe dera l Circuit's de cision in Conway v. Principi , 353 F.3d 1369 ( Fe d. Cir. 2004).

On J uly 12, 2004, Mr. Hac kett, throug h counsel, filed a mot ion for leave to file a supplemental brief. O n that same date, the Court r ece ived Mr. Hac kett' s supplemental brief . On J uly 16, 2004, the Se c re tary

fi le d a mot ion op po sin g Mr . H a c ke tt' s mo tio n to fi le a su pp le me nta l br ie f a

nd a lso moved for a

stay of the proc eeding s pending this Court's disposition of Conway v. Principi , U .S. Ve t. App. No. 01-0107 (Notice of Appea l filed J an. 16, 2001); Nelson v. Principi , U.S. Vet. App. No. 02-2140 (Notice of Appeal filed Nov. 21, 2002) ; and McCutche on v. Principi , U.S. V et. App. No. 01-1027 (Notice of Appe al filed J une 14, 2001). The Court will deny the Secr etar

y ' s motion for a
s t ay , gra n tM r. Ha ck et t 's m o t i o n fo r l ea v e, an d ac ce p tfo r f i l i n g Mr. Hacke tt ' s supplemental brief

. Fur thermore , the Court will o rd er the Secre tary to file with the Court a re sponse addr essing the issues raised in Mr. Hacke tt' s supplemental brief an d will affor d Mr. Hacke tt the op po rt

un ity to reply to the Secre tary ' s response. T he Secre tary will f urther be order ed to supple ment the rec ord on app eal . I n p art icu lar , t he C ou rtrequ ir es i ncl us io n i n t he reco rd of th e "VC AA l ett er" Mr. Hacke tt ref ers to in his November

2001 letter to the B oard. See R. at 255. Additionally , beca

use the Court believe s that oral ar gument will materially assist in the dispositi on of this appea l, the Clerk of the Court will s et t h e m at t erfor or al ar g ument afte r the response s of the par

ties have be en re ceive d and as soon a s the business of th e C ourt permits. Cf. W ins lowv . B ro wn , 8 Vet. App. 469, 471 ( 1996) (de ny ing motion for or al ar g ument wher e Court does not believe it will materially assist the disposit ion of the appe al). Unde r 38 U.S.C. § 7261(b)(2) andConway, supra, the Court is require d to take due a ccount of the rule of

prejudicia l error

in all case s addre ssing the notice require ments in 38 U.S.C. § 5103(a ). At ora l argument, the par ties should be prepa red to addre ss, among other thi ng s, which party has t he burden of esta blishing that there has been pr ejudicial er

ror c ommitt ed in the proc eeding s befor e VA. Up on c on sid e ratio n o f t

he fo re g oin g , it

is
ORDERED that the Secr etar y ' s motion for stay

of proc eeding s is denied. I t is further
ORDERED that Mr. Hac kett' s motion for leave to file a supplementa l brief is g rante d and the brief r ece ived on J uly

12, 2004, will be filed as of the date of

this order. I t is further ORDERED that, not later than 14 day s afte r the date of this order , the Secr etar y file, and se rve on Mr. Hacke tt , a re sponse to the issues raise d in Mr. Hacke tt ' s supplemental brief . I t is further ORDERED that, not later tha n 14 day s after

the filing of the Sec reta

ry ' s response, Mr. Hacke tt may file, and se rve on the Secre tary , a re ply . I t is further ORDERED that, not later tha n 28 day s after

the date of

this order, a

ny interested individual or ent i t y m ay file and se rve on the other pa rties a br ief, a s amicus cur iae, on the issues state d above. I t is further

ORDE RED that, t

he Cle rk of the Court se t the ma tte r fo r or a l ar g ume nt as so on a s th e bu sin e ss of the Court per

mits.

DA TE D: No ve mbe r 3 , 2 00 4 PER CU RI AM

.