UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 98-6547
PERRY CRAIG,
Petitioner - Appellant,
versus
PHOEBE JOHNSON, Warden; CHARLES CONDON,
Respondents - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Falcon B. Hawkins, Chief District
Judge. (CA-96-1006-0-11)
Submitted: August 13, 1998 Decided: September 3, 1998
Before WIDENER and WILKINS, Circuit Judges, and HALL, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Perry Craig, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Chief Deputy
Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Appellant filed an untimely notice of appeal. We dismiss for
lack of jurisdiction. The time periods for filing notices of appeal
are governed by Fed. R. App. P. 4. These periods are “mandatory and
jurisdictional.” Browder v. Director, Dep’t of Corrections, 434
U.S. 257, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v. Robinson, 361 U.S.
220, 229 (1960)). Parties to civil actions have thirty days within
which to file in the district court notices of appeal from judg-
ments or final orders. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1). The only exceptions
to the appeal period are when the district court extends the time
to appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal
period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).
The district court entered its order on April 3, 1997; Appel-
lant’s notice of appeal was filed on April 9, 1998, which is beyond
the thirty-day appeal period. Appellant’s failure to note a timely
appeal or obtain an extension of the appeal period leaves this
court without jurisdiction to consider the merits of Appellant’s
appeal. We therefore 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
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