Kevin Gilliard v. Warden Joyner
Kevin Gilliard v. Warden Joyner
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-6908
KEVIN GILLIARD,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
WARDEN JOYNER,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Greenville. Sherri A. Lydon, District Judge. (6:18-cv-02417-SAL)
Submitted: November 19, 2020 Decided: November 24, 2020
Before WILKINSON, KING, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.
Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Kevin Gilliard, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Kevin Gilliard seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his
28 U.S.C. § 2254petition. In a civil case, the notice of appeal must be filed no more than 30 days
after the entry of the district court’s final judgment or order, 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 its order dismissing Gilliard’s § 2254 petition on May 6,
2020, thereby affording Gilliard until June 6, 2020, to file a notice of appeal. Gilliard filed
a document entitled “Notice of Appeal” dated June 11, 2020, requesting permission to file
an appeal and submitting reasons for why his appeal should be granted. Because Gilliard’s
June 11, 2020, filing requested permission to file an appeal, presented an excuse for the
untimeliness of his appeal, and the filing was dated during the 30-day excusable neglect
period, we construe the filing as a timely request for an extension of the appeal period. See
Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5). Accordingly, we remand this case to the district court for the
limited purpose of determining whether Gilliard has demonstrated excusable neglect. The
record, as supplemented, will then be returned to this court for further consideration.
REMANDED
2
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished