United States v. Robert Crenshaw
United States v. Robert Crenshaw
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-4046
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ROBERT CRENSHAW,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Ellen L. Hollander, District Judge. (1:18-cr-00069-ELH-1)
Submitted: November 17, 2020 Decided: November 19, 2020
Before MOTZ and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Stuart A. Berman, LERCH, EARLY & BREWER, CHTD., Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellant. John Walter Sippel, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Robert Crenshaw pleaded guilty, pursuant to a Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea
agreement, to carjacking, in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 2119(2). The district court sentenced
Crenshaw to 204 months’ imprisonment. Counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.
California,
386 U.S. 738(1967), stating that there are no meritorious grounds for appeal
but questioning whether the district court correctly classified Crenshaw as a career
offender. Crenshaw filed a supplemental pro se brief raising the same issue. The
Government has moved to dismiss the appeal as untimely.
A criminal defendant must file his notice of appeal within 14 days after the entry of
judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A). With or without a motion, upon a showing of
excusable neglect or good cause, the district court may grant an extension of up to 30 days
to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4). Although the appeal period in a criminal
case is a claims-processing rule, not a jurisdictional provision, see United States v. Urutyan,
564 F.3d 679, 685(4th Cir. 2009), “[w]hen the Government promptly invokes the rule in
response to a late-filed criminal appeal, we must dismiss,” United States v. Oliver,
878 F.3d 120, 123(4th Cir. 2017).
The district court entered judgment on August 9, 2019. Crenshaw filed his notice
of appeal on January 7, 2020, at the earliest—several months after the expiration of the
appeal period. 1 Because Crenshaw failed to file a timely notice of appeal or to obtain an
1 Although Crenshaw asserts that counsel failed to file a notice of appeal after being directed to do so, claims of ineffective assistance of counsel that, like here, do not
2 extension of the appeal period, we grant the Government’s motion and dismiss the appeal
as untimely. 2 This court requires that counsel inform Crenshaw, in writing, of the right to
petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Crenshaw requests
that a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then
counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s
motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Crenshaw. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
“conclusively appear[] on the face of the record,” United States v. Faulls,
8221 F.3d 502, 507. (4th Cir. 2016), “should be raised, if at all in a
28 U.S.C. § 2255motion,”
id. at 508. 2 Because we conclude the appeal is untimely, we need not consider whether this appeal is barred by the appellate waiver in Crenshaw’s plea agreement.
3
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished