Opinion ID: 686511
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did nagib consent to the initial tardy appeal?

Text: 15 Horodner did not reach the merits of the defendant's appeal because there was nothing in the record indicating whether Horodner had instructed his counsel in a timely manner to file a notice of appeal. Although Horodner alleged that he instructed his counsel to appeal, the court refused to resolve the matter on the factual record before it, concluding that [t]he question thus becomes: Did Horodner consent to the abandonment of his appeal from his 1987 convictions? We cannot answer this from the record before us. Remand is necessary. Horodner, 993 F.2d at 195. 16 In United States v. Mosley, 967 F.2d 242 (7th Cir.1992), we followed this approach when we held that 17 [r]elief depended, then, on proof that Mosley's lawyer dropped the ball. Instead of taking a quick and simple path, the district court must take the longer but proper path of figuring out what happened. Did Mosley's lawyer render ineffective assistance? Is Mosley's memory playing tricks on him? Is he making it all up in a desperate effort to have the appeal he willingly bypassed in 1989? 18 Id. at 244 (emphasis added). Similarly, in Castellanos, we stated that 19 [b]ecause the district judges in these cases concluded that Castellanos and Streete lacked good prospects on direct appeal, they did not decide whether the defendants actually instructed their lawyers to take appeals. We vacate the judgments of the district court and remand so that the courts may determine whether Castellanos and Streete timely told their lawyers that they wanted appellate review. If the answer is yes, then the court should enter an order providing ... the right to an appellate proceeding, as if on direct appeal. 20 See Castellanos, 26 F.3d at 720 (emphasis added). 21 The district judge in the case at bar did not have the benefit of our decision in Castellanos. As a result, he never addressed the legal or factual distinction, if there is one, between a case of lawyer nonfeasance and lawyer misfeasance. Because he held Nagib did not have to show prejudice, the district judge never considered whether Nagib could have made that showing. In short, the factual record before us is not conducive to our resolution of either the jurisdictional question or the merits. 22 The dissent argues that remand is unnecessary because it is unlikely that Nagib was responsible for the filing of his untimely appeal. Judge Posner may indeed be correct, but the district court made no finding that Nagib requested, in a timely manner, that his lawyer file an appeal. Moreover, there is nothing in the record independently to support such a conclusion. The dissent, of course, presumes that Nagib instructed his counsel to seek appellate review because it is unlikely that Nagib even knew about Rule 35 motions or the time limits for appeal. The problem remains, however, that if Nagib first instructed his lawyer to appeal on October 12, 1990--after consenting to his counsel's strategic decision to file a motion to reconsider the sentence on the very last day available under Rule 4(b)--he may not be able to demonstrate prejudice. The record does not reflect whether Nagib requested, in a timely fashion or at all, that his lawyer file a notice of appeal. Thus, we must REMAND to determine whether Nagib's lost appeal is due entirely to his lawyer's error or perhaps, in part, to his own negligence. This court's decisions in Mosley and Castellanos indicate that such findings must be made by the trial court. We are not unsympathetic to the dissent's concern about delay, but we continue to believe that remand is the proper course. 23 We believe, under the circumstances, that this case should be REMANDED to the district court to consider and make specific findings with respect to abandonment and the exact nature of Nagib's request for appeal, and to consider the issue of prejudice in light of Castellanos, Horodner, and the other authorities herein considered. 24 We, therefore, REMAND this case on the jurisdiction issue discussed for further consideration by the district court in accordance with this opinion. 25