Court Opinion

ID: 9942908
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-22 14:00:35.352187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:45:16.992082
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 23-12798    Document: 18-1     Date Filed: 02/22/2024   Page: 1 of 3

                                                  [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                   In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                          ____________________

                                No. 23-12798
                          Non-Argument Calendar
                          ____________________

       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                      Plaintiﬀ-Appellee,
       versus
       NICHOLAS WUKOSON,

                                                  Defendant-Appellant.

                          ____________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                     for the Southern District of Florida
                   D.C. Docket No. 9:18-cr-80166-DMM-1
                          ____________________
USCA11 Case: 23-12798      Document: 18-1      Date Filed: 02/22/2024     Page: 2 of 3

       2                      Opinion of the Court                  23-12798

       Before ROSENBAUM, LUCK, and ABUDU, Circuit Judges.
       PER CURIAM:
               Nicholas Wukoson appeals, pro se, following the denials of
       his “Motion for Plain Error Review, Rule 52(b)” and motion for
       reconsideration, which he filed in his closed criminal case. In re-
       sponse, the government moved for summary affirmance, or, alter-
       natively, to dismiss the appeal as untimely. Because the govern-
       ment has raised the issue of timeliness in its motion to dismiss or
       for summary affirmance, we must apply the time limits of Federal
       Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b). See United States v. Lopez, 562
       F.3d 1309, 1312-14 (11th Cir. 2009) (explaining that the deadline in
       Rule 4(b) for a defendant to file a notice of appeal in a criminal case
       is not jurisdictional, but rather it is considered a claims-processing
       rule).
               Wukoson’s present notice of appeal was dated on August 22,
       2023, so under the prison “mailbox” rule, it was deemed to be de-
       livered to prison oﬃcials and ﬁled with the court then, 145 days
       after the district court’s March 30, 2023, order. Fed. R. App. P.
       4(b)(1)(A). This was well beyond the 14-day period for appealing
       and, furthermore, Wukoson was not eligible for relief under Rule
       4(b)(4) because it was also beyond the additional 30 days during
       which an extension was permissible. See Lopez, 562 F.3d at 1314
       (noting that Rule 4(b)(4) allowed the district court to extend the
       time for ﬁling a notice of appeal by no more than 30 days after the
       initial deadline).
USCA11 Case: 23-12798   Document: 18-1   Date Filed: 02/22/2024   Page: 3 of 3

       23-12798           Opinion of the Court                     3

             Accordingly, we GRANT the government’s motion to dis-
       miss this appeal as untimely, and we DENY AS MOOT the gov-
       ernment’s motion for summary affirmance.