McCullough v. Desmond

USCA1 Opinion









August 23, 1995
[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT





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No. 95-1244

DONALD F. MCCULLOUGH,

Plaintiff, Appellee,

v.

ROBERT DESMOND, ET AL.,

Defendants, Appellants.



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APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Henry A. Mentz, Jr.,* Senior U.S. District Judge] __________________________

____________________

Before

Cyr, Boudin and Lynch,
Circuit Judges. ______________

____________________

Robert M. Desmond on brief pro se. _________________
John Kenneth Felter, P.C. and Goodwin, Proctor & Hoar on brief __________________________ _________________________
for appellee.


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____________________

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* Of the Eastern District of Louisiana, sitting by designation.















































































Per Curiam. Appellant, Robert M. Desmond, filed a ___________

notice of appeal which bore the district court docket number

of McCullough v. Desmond et al., 90-cv-11788. Any appeal in __________ ______________

that case is untimely. Desmond says, however, that he

intended to appeal in the district court case of McCullough __________

v. Desmond, 94-cv-12216. In particular, Desmond seeks to _______

appeal the judgment, which entered on December 30, 1994, and

the denial of his motion to vacate that judgment, which

entered on February 1, 1995. His notice of appeal specified

those rulings, as well as the party taking the appeal and the

court to which the appeal was taken. See Fed. R. App. P. ___

3(c). As his notice of appeal did not bear the docket number

of 94-cv-12216, however, it was not entered in that case and

it is now too late to file a timely notice of appeal in that

case.

Assuming without deciding that the notice of appeal

erroneously filed in docket number 90-cv-11788 may be treated

as having been timely filed in docket number 94-cv-12216, we

would, in any event, affirm. Desmond was on timely notice

that McCullough had filed a motion for judgment on the

pleadings. Yet, he did not notify either McCullough or the

district court that he allegedly had not received his copy of

that motion and supporting memorandum until his receipt one

month later of the order granting McCullough's motion.

Further, he has never proffered any grounds to oppose the



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entry of judgment on the pleadings that would warrant

vacating that judgment.

There was no abuse of discretion in denying the motion

to vacate the judgment and the order of the district court is

affirmed. _________

Appellee's motion for just damages and double costs

pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 38 is denied. Ordinary costs, _______

pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 39, are awarded.





































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