United States of America v. Terrail Lamont Jennings

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 21-7580
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
TERRAIL LAMONT JENNINGS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Richmond. Robert E. Payne, Senior District Judge. (3:18-cr-00034-REP-RCY-1; 3:20-
cv-00002-REP-RCY)
Submitted: March 16, 2023 Decided: April 6, 2023
Before WILKINSON, HARRIS, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Terrail Lamont Jennings, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Terrail Lamont Jennings seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on
his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the
notice of appeal was not timely filed.
When the United States or its officer or agency is a party in a civil case, the notice
of appeal must be filed no more than 60 days after the entry of the district court’s final
judgment or order, Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(B), unless the district court extends the appeal
period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P.
4(a)(6). “[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional
requirement.” Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007).
The district court entered its order on July 21, 2021. Jennings filed the notice of
appeal on October 18, 2021.* Because Jennings failed to file a timely notice of appeal or
to obtain an extension or reopening of the appeal period, we dismiss the appeal.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED
* This court received Jennings’ notice of appeal on October 20, 2021. The notice
was undated, but the envelope containing it had a prison date stamp of October 18, 2021.
For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that the date appearing on the envelope is the
earliest date Jennings could have delivered the notice to prison officials for mailing to the
court. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988).

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