Court Opinion

ID: 9353873
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-12 23:00:22.43164+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:12:11.747228
License: Public Domain

Appellate Case: 22-4105     Document: 010110796996       Date Filed: 01/12/2023     Page: 1
                                                                                   FILED
                                                                       United States Court of Appeals
                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                          Tenth Circuit

                              FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT                          January 12, 2023
                          _________________________________
                                                                          Christopher M. Wolpert
                                                                              Clerk of Court
  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

        Plaintiff - Appellee,

  v.                                                          No. 22-4105
                                                    (D.C. No. 4:21-CR-00023-DN-1)
  DEVIN PARIS LOFTON,                                          (D. Utah)

        Defendant - Appellant.
                       _________________________________

                              ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
                          _________________________________

 Before PHILLIPS, MURPHY, and EID, Circuit Judges.
                    _________________________________

       After examining the briefs and appellate record, this court has determined

 unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this

 appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2)(C); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). Accordingly, we

 order the case submitted without oral argument.

       Devin Paris Lofton filed an 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) motion for

 compassionate release. The district court entered final judgment denying the

 motion on October 3, 2022. Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 4(b), Lofton’s notice of

 appeal was due fourteen days later, on October 17, 2022. See United States v.

       *
          This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines
 of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for
 its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
Appellate Case: 22-4105   Document: 010110796996       Date Filed: 01/12/2023    Page: 2

 McCalister, 601 F.3d 1086, 1087 (10th Cir. 2010) (holding that a § 3582(c)

 motion is a criminal proceeding). Lofton did not, however, file his notice of

 appeal until October 31, 2022, a full fourteen days after the Rule 4(b) deadline.

 Although Lofton’s notice of appeal included a handwritten date of October 17,

 2022, this notation is not enough to satisfy the timeliness requirement. Pursuant

 to the prison mailbox rule, a notice of appeal given to prison officials for mailing

 by the filing deadline is deemed timely only if (1) it is accompanied by a

 declaration or notarized statement stating the date of deposit or (2) evidence like

 a postmark that the notice was timely deposited. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1).

 Lofton’s notice of appeal did not contain the required declaration and it was

 postmarked October 26, 2022, well past the deadline.

       The time limit set out in Rule 4(b)(1)(A) is an “inflexible claim-processing

 rule” that must be enforced if raised by a party. United States v. Garduno, 506

 F.3d 1287, 1291 (10th Cir. 2007). Because the United States objects to the

 timeliness of Lofton’s notice of appeal, and because that notice is untimely,

 dismissal is “mandatory.” Id. at 1290.

       Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court dismisses

 Lofton’s appeal for failure to file a timely notice of appeal. This court’s mandate

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Appellate Case: 22-4105   Document: 010110796996    Date Filed: 01/12/2023   Page: 3

 shall issue forthwith.

                                        Entered for the Court

                                        Michael R. Murphy
                                        Circuit Judge

                                        3