Opinion ID: 457777
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ninth Circuit Authority.

Text: 17 We are initially confronted by two of our decisions which appear to reach conflicting results. Compare Selph v. Council of the City of Los Angeles, 593 F.2d 881 (9th Cir.1979), with In re Estate of Butler's Tire & Battery Co., 592 F.2d 1028 (9th Cir.1979) (Butler's Tire ). Upon further examination, however, we conclude that Selph is distinguishable and that Butler's Tire is controlling. 18 In Selph, a motion for extension of time for filing a notice of appeal was filed within the 30-day extension period permitted by the then applicable version of Rule 4(a)(5), Fed.R.App.P. However, Selph's attorney noticed the motion for a date after the expiration of the 30-day extension period. Selph, 593 F.2d at 882. As we noted, the motion could have been noticed for a date prior to the expiration of the 30-day extension period. Id. at 883. Although the district court subsequently granted the extension motion, we dismissed the appeal as untimely. We held in Selph that once the 30-day extension period expired as a result of the appellant's actions, the district court no longer possessed authority to grant an extension of time. 1 Selph is distinguishable from the present case where the district court's action caused the delay in filing the appeal. 19 The appellant in Butler's Tire filed for an extension during the 20-day period provided for under Rule 802(c), Fed.R.Bankr.P. (corresponding to the second 30-day period under Rule 4(a)(5)). 2 The bankruptcy court scheduled argument on the extension request for a date after the extension period expired. Butler's Tire, 592 F.2d at 1032. With regard to the notice of appeal, we relied upon Harris, Thompson, and Wolfsohn in concluding that the appellant reasonably withheld filing of the notice of appeal until the court had ruled on the claim of excusable neglect and should not be penalized for relying upon the court's decision to calendar argument for a date beyond the applicable time limits. Id. (Footnote omitted). We ultimately dismissed the appeal because there was no evidence to support the excusable neglect claim, but we nonetheless recognized the proposition that there is jurisdiction to hear an appeal when it is the fault of the lower court that notice was not earlier filed. Id. (Footnote omitted). 3 20 We followed Butler's Tire in Hernandez, 630 F.2d at 1344-45. Hernandez involved an interpretation of the 10-day appeal period under 8 C.F.R. Sec. 242.21. Section 242.21 contained no provision for an extension of the appeal filing period, but the immigration judge granted a 15-day extension during the initial filing period. Hernandez, 630 F.2d at 1354. The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed the appeal because it concluded that the immigration judge lacked the authority to grant an extension. We reversed, concluding that the appellant's reliance upon the extension granted by the immigration judge constituted unique circumstances warranting acceptance of the untimely appeal. Id. at 1354-55. 21 The present case involves facts analogous to Harris, Thompson, Wolfsohn, Butler's Tire, and Hernandez, as well as the decisions from other circuits cited above. Danon could have filed his notice of appeal within the initial appeal period if he had not reasonably relied upon the district court's erroneous suggestion of a 60-day extension. We conclude that this case involves unique circumstance permitting us to hear Danon's appeal of the Rule 37(b) dismissal. 22 Permitting the appeal in this case is also in accord with our recent decision in California v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 66 F.2d 1316 (9th Cir.1985). In Tahoe Regional Planning, one of the agencies involved filed an untimely appeal thirty-seven days after the district court orally denied its motion for modification of a preliminary injunction. The agency had delayed filing its notice of appeal because it anticipated entry of a final written order which was never entered. We applied the unique circumstances doctrine and permitted the otherwise untimely appeal. Tahoe Regional Planning further illustrates our willingness to apply the unique circumstances doctrine despite the effect the doctrine has on the finality of judgments. 23 We believe that our decision is an equitable one. See 4 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure, Civil Sec. 1168, at 640 (1969) (unique circumstances doctrine insures that a litigant's right to seek review will be protected at the expense of only a modest incursion on the rules relating to finality of judgments). If the district court had taken no action on Danon's motion for extension of time until it ruled on the motion for reconsideration, the district court would have possessed the authority to grant a 10-day extension under amended Rule 4(a)(5) when the denial of the motion for reconsideration was entered on August 29, 1983. Danon should not be penalized by his reasonable reliance upon the court's mistake in granting the 60-day extension on June 29. The district court's initial 60-day extension was beyond its powers and may be regarded as a nullity. Thus, August 29 may be viewed as the effective date of the entry of the order granting Danon's extension request. The 10-day extension granted by the district court on that date therefore may be viewed as falling within the authorization of amended Rule 4(a)(5). 24 For the reasons discussed above, we conclude that we have jurisdiction of the present appeal. 25