United States v. Davis

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 99-7101 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus HOWARD DAVIS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Anderson. Henry M. Herlong, Jr., District Judge. (CR-92-524, CA-99-1043-8-20-AK) Submitted: September 30, 1999 Decided: October 8, 1999 Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Howard Davis, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Howard Davis seeks to appeal the district court’s orders deny- ing his motions filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 1999), and Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). We dismiss the appeal from the denial of the § 2255 motion for lack of jurisdiction because the appeal was untimely filed. The district court entered its order denying § 2255 relief on May 17, 1999. Davis did not specifically mention the May 17 order in his notice of appeal but stated in his informal brief filed in this court on September 15, 1999, that he also seeks to appeal the May 17 order. Although an informal brief may be construed as a notice of appeal when it satisfies the requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 3, see Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244, 247-49 (1992), Davis did not file his informal brief within the sixty-day appeal period provided by Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1), nor did the dis- trict court extend the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopen the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). We therefore deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss this portion of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. With regard to Davis' appeal from the denial of his Rule 60(b) motion, we have reviewed the record and the district court’s opin- ion and find no abuse of discretion. Accordingly, we deny a cer- tificate of appealability and dismiss this portion of the appeal on the reasoning of the district court. See United States v. Davis, Nos. CR-92-524; CA-99-1043-8-20-AK (D.S.C. June 18, 1999). We dis- 2 pense 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 3