United States v. Woods

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  No. 03-6308 KAREEM B. WOODS, Defendant-Appellant.  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  No. 03-6358 KAREEM B. WOODS, Defendant-Appellant.  Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston. Elizabeth V. Hallanan, Senior District Judge. (CR-96-191, CA-02-1347-2) Submitted: May 15, 2003 Decided: June 2, 2003 Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL Kareem B. Woods, Appellant Pro Se. Michael Lee Keller, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charleston, West Vir- ginia, for Appellee. 2 UNITED STATES v. WOODS Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). OPINION PER CURIAM: Kareem B. Woods appeals the district court’s orders dismissing his motion to reduce his sentence. We affirm. The district court referred this case to a magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) (2000). The magistrate judge recom- mended that relief be denied and advised Woods that failure to file specific objections to the recommendation within ten days plus three days for mailing could waive appellate review of a district court order based upon the recommendation. Woods placed objections in the prison mail system on February 5, 2003,1 and they were postmarked on February 6, 2003. Despite this timely filing, the district court did not enter Woods’s filing on the docket until February 10, 2003.2 On that day the district court, noting that no objections to the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation had been filed, adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendations and dismissed Woods’s motion. Upon receipt of Woods’s objections, the district court found the filing untimely and moot. The district court found that Woods’s objections failed to indi- cate specific error in the magistrate judge’s report and, without a de novo review, reaffirmed its February 10 order adopting the magistrate judge’s recommendation. 1 See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988) (prisoner’s notice of appeal filed on the day it is delivered to prison officials). 2 Woods’s objections were due on February 10, 2003, ten days after the magistrate judge issued her report plus the three days specified in the magistrate judge’s report for mailing. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a) (providing that "intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays" are excluded when the time period is less than eleven days). UNITED STATES v. WOODS 3 We find that any error in the district court’s conclusion that Woods’s objections were not timely filed is harmless. Nor does the district court’s failure to perform a de novo review necessitate rever- sal because Woods failed to raise specific objections after receiving proper notice and thereby waives his right to appellate review. See Orpiano v. Johnson, 687 F.2d 44, 47 (4th Cir. 1982). Accordingly, we affirm.3 We grant in forma pauperis status in both appeals. 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. AFFIRMED 3 Woods also raises two claims for the first time on appeal. This Court generally does not address issues raised for the first time on appeal. See Muth v. United States, 1 F.3d 246, 250 (4th Cir. 1993).