Charles Edgar Pratt v. State of North Carolina

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-6257
CHARLES EDGAR PRATT,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. Richard E. Myers, II, Chief District Judge. (5:21-hc-02140-M)
Submitted: October 24, 2022 Decided: December 6, 2022
Before RICHARDSON and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Charles Edgar Pratt, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Charles Edgar Pratt seeks to appeal the district court’s order directing case
management. This court may exercise jurisdiction only over final orders, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291, and certain interlocutory and collateral orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1292; Fed. R. Civ. P.
54(b); Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-46 (1949). The order
Pratt seeks to appeal is neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral
order. See Williamson v. Stirling, 912 F.3d 154, 170 (4th Cir. 2018) (noting that premature
notice of appeal of interlocutory order can be valid under the doctrine of cumulative finality
only where the district court could have certified the interlocutory order for immediate
appeal). Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.* 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
* To the extent that Pratt seeks to appeal from the district court’s final order, his
premature filing was insufficient to serve as a notice of appeal from that judgment. See In
re Bryson, 406 F.3d 284, 288 (4th Cir. 2005).

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