Justin Leon Walker v. Director Chadwick Dotson

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 24-6043
JUSTIN LEON WALKER,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
DIRECTOR CHADWICK DOTSON,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Richmond. David J. Novak, District Judge. (3:23-cv-00388-DJN-MRC)
Submitted: July 18, 2024 Decided: July 22, 2024
Before NIEMEYER, KING, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.
Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Justin Leon Walker, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Justin Leon Walker seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his
28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. The district court received the notice of appeal shortly after the
appeal period expired on January 3, 2024. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A). Because Walker
is incarcerated, the notice is considered filed as of the date it was delivered to prison
officials for mailing to the court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266,
276 (1988). The record does not conclusively establish when Walker gave the notice of
appeal to prison officials for mailing. Accordingly, we remand this case for the limited
purpose of allowing the district court to obtain this information from the parties and to
determine whether the filing was timely under Rule 4(c)(1) and Houston. The record, as
supplemented, will then be returned to this court for further consideration.
REMANDED

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