Court Opinion

ID: 9388871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-21 21:00:20.986276+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:23.502470
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 20-2067      Doc: 23         Filed: 03/15/2022    Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 20-2067

        SHEILA M. MARSHALL,

                            Plaintiff - Appellant,

                     v.

        UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER,

                            Defendant - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
        Theodore D. Chuang, District Judge. (1:17-cv-02779-TDC)

        Submitted: February 24, 2022                                      Decided: March 15, 2022

        Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and KING, Circuit Judges.

        Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Sheila M. Marshall, Appellant Pro Se. Douglas William Desmarais, Kerstin Marie Miller,
        SMITH & DOWNEY, PA, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 20-2067      Doc: 23          Filed: 03/15/2022     Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Sheila M. Marshall seeks to appeal the district court’s order granting summary

        judgment to Defendant on her civil complaint. In a civil case, a party must file a notice of

        appeal within 30 days of the judgment or order being appealed, Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A),

        unless the district court extends the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens

        the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). “[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal

        in a civil case is a jurisdictional requirement.” Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007).

               The district court entered judgment on August 31, 2020. Marshall therefore had

        until September 30, 2020, to file a notice of appeal. The district court filed Marshall’s

        appeal on October 2, 2020, outside of the appeal period. However, a court security officer

        stamp on the envelope creates some ambiguity as to when the district court clerk received

        Marshall’s notice of appeal. Accordingly, we remand the case to allow the district court to

        determine the date on which Marshall filed the notice of appeal.

               Additionally, a district court may extend the appeal period under Rule 4(a)(5) if a

        party moves for an extension of time within 30 days of the expiration of the appeal period

        and shows excusable neglect or good cause. Marshall filed a letter on September 28, 2020,

        that we construe as a motion to extend the appeal period. If the district court determines

        that the district court clerk did not receive the notice of appeal within the appeal period,

        then the district court should then determine whether the requirements of Rule 4(a)(5) are

        satisfied. The record, as supplemented, will then be returned to this court for further

        consideration.

                                                                                       REMANDED

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