UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-4465
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JOSEPH GRAYSON WARD,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Beaufort. Sol Blatt, Jr., Senior District
Judge. (CR-02-2)
Submitted: July 14, 2005 Decided: July 22, 2005
Before WILKINSON, LUTTIG, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
C. Gordon McBride, Hartsville, South Carolina, for Appellant.
Miller Williams Shealy, Jr., OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY,
Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Joseph Grayson Ward seeks to appeal his conviction and
sentence. In criminal cases, the defendant must file the notice of
appeal within ten 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 thirty days to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R.
App. P. 4(b)(4); United States v. Reyes, 759 F.2d 351, 353 (4th
Cir. 1985).
The district court entered the criminal judgment on
April 10, 2003, and entered its judgment granting Ward’s motion
under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) to allow a belated notice of appeal
on September 20, 2004. Ward’s notice of appeal was filed on
February 22, 2005.* Because Ward failed to file a timely notice of
appeal, we 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
*
For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that the date
appearing on the notice of appeal is the earliest date it could
have been properly delivered to prison officials for mailing to the
court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988).
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