UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 96-1450

JOHN S. ZIMMERMAN, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus DANIEL BRUBAKER; NANCY BRUBAKER; LYNN D.

BRUBAKER; STEVEN BLATT; PORTER GRAVES, Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western Dis- trict of Virginia, at Harrisonburg. B. Waugh Crigler, Magistrate Judge. (CA-95-39-H)

Submitted: July 25, 1996 Decided: August 7, 1996

Before LUTTIG and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

John S. Zimmerman, Appellant Pro Se. William Augustas Julias, JULIAS, BLATT & BLATT, P.C., Harrisonburg, Virginia; Peter Robert Messitt, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellant filed an untimely notice of appeal. We grant Ap- pellees' motions to dismiss and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

The time periods for filing notices of appeal are governed by Fed. R. App. P. 4. These periods are "mandatory and jurisdiction- al." Browder v. Director, Dep't of Corrections, 434 U.S. 257, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v. Robinson, 361 U.S. 220, 229 (1960)). Parties to civil actions have thirty days within which to file in the district court notices of appeal from judgments or final orders. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1). The only exceptions to the appeal period are when the district court extends the time to appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).

Appellant's failure to file a timely notice of appeal or to obtain either an extension or a reopening of the appeal period leaves this court without jurisdiction to consider the merits of Appellant's appeal. We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED