Opinion ID: 606237
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 3 Langerston's offense was committed in April 1987. Under the version of Rule 35(b) applicable to offenses committed prior to November 1, 1987: 4 [a] motion to reduce a sentence may be made ... within 120 days after the sentence is imposed ... or within 120 days after receipt by the court of a mandate issued upon affirmance of the judgment or dismissal of the appeal, or within 120 days after entry of any order or judgment of the Supreme Court denying review of, or having the effect of upholding, a judgment of conviction or probation modification. The court shall determine the motion within a reasonable time. 5 The district court's ruling on a Rule 35 motion is reviewed for illegality or gross abuse of discretion. United States v. Stump, 914 F.2d 170, 172 (9th Cir.1990). 6 The judgment in this case was entered on November 18, 1987. Langerston filed his Rule 35 motion on March 14, 1988, well within the 120-day time limit specified in the Rule. The motion was denied on May 11, 1988. Langerston did not file a notice of appeal from the order denying his motion. Instead, Langerston waited until November 29, 1989 to file his motion for reconsideration, which was denied on February 7, 1990. 7 The district court did not have jurisdiction to entertain Langerston's motion for reconsideration. The 120-day time limit of Rule 35 is jurisdictional: 8 [T]he timely filing of a Rule 35 motion does not give a district court jurisdiction to entertain subsequent, untimely Rule 35 motions. The second motion will not be deemed to relate back to the first motion. Nor is the jurisdictional defect cured by styling the subsequent motion as a motion for reconsideration. 9 United States v. Hetrick, 644 F.2d 752, 756 (9th Cir.1980) (citations omitted). Langerston's motion for reconsideration was filed eighteen months after the district court's denial of his Rule 35 motion, and well beyond 120 days from the imposition of the sentence. The district court erred by considering the motion for reconsideration, and we are without jurisdiction to review the merits. 10 Moreover, we are without jurisdiction to review the district court's denial of the original, timely Rule 35 motion. Under Fed.R.App.P. 4(b), a party must file a notice of appeal within 10 days after the date of entry of the judgment or order appealed from. Langerston failed to file any notice of appeal from the denial of the motion. Absent a timely notice of appeal, we have no jurisdiction to review the decision of the district court. 2 11