Court Opinion

ID: 9477841
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:32:51.979673+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:04.992518
License: Public Domain

SCHROEDER, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the result.
I cannot join in the majority’s criticism of the district court for construing appellant’s letter as a motion for extension of time. The 1979 amendments to the rales require that appellants ask for an extension of tíme once 30 days has elapsed since judgment. District courts therefore may no longer construe an untimely notice of appeal as a motion for extension of time. Pettibone v. Cupp, 666 F.2d 333, 335 (9th Cir.1981); Shah v. Hutto, 722 F.2d 1167, 1168 (4th Cir.1983) (en banc), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 975, 104 S.Ct. 2354, 80 L.Ed.2d 827 (1984); United States ex rel. Leonard v. O’Leary, 788 F.2d 1238, 1240 (7th Cir.1986) (per curiam). But the district court could reasonably have construed appellant’s letter as a motion for extension of time given the liberal construction generally given pro se documents. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, 595, 30 L.Ed.2d 652, reh’g denied, 405 U.S. 948, 92 S.Ct. 963, 30 L.Ed.2d 819 (1972). See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1330 (9th Cir.1986); Davis v. Dept. of Corrections, 446 F.2d 644, 645 (9th Cir.1971); Curtis Gallery & Library, Inc. v. United States, 388 F.2d 358, 360 (9th Cir.1968).
I also cannot join in the majority’s criticism of the district court for finding excusable neglect, given the facts of this case. Appellant explained in the letter that he not only had lost his jailhouse lawyer, but that he had been moved to a new detention center due to threats against his life, and that he was not allowed phone calls. In the time available, he had nowhere to turn.
I must, however, concur in the dismissal of the appeal. On the basis of the information before this panel, it is clear that the appellant did not provide notice to the state of his request to the district court. His request was made after the expiration of the original thirty-day appeal time. Notice was required and the district court could not have granted any effective extension ex parte. That is the holding of this court in North Umberland Mining Co. v. Standard Ace Ins. Co., 193 F.2d 951 (9th Cir.1952), interpreting former Rule 73 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing timely filing of notices of appeal. The Advisory Committee Rule notes to FRAP 4 explain that it codifies the North Umberland holding. See also Diffenderfer v. Homer, 408 F.2d 1344, 1346 n. 6 and 7 (5th Cir.1969). The circuits appear to have spoken with a single voice on the subject. See Truett v. Johns-Mansville Sales Corp., 725 F.2d 1301, 1302 (11th Cir.1984) (per *575curiam); Oda v. Transcon Lines, 650 F.2d 231, 232 (10th Cir.1981); Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Kurtenbach, 525 F.2d 1179, 1182 (8th Cir.1975); Plant Economy, Inc. v. Mirror Insulation Co., 308 F.2d 275, 277 (3d Cir.1962).