Warren Matthew Giddings v. Montgomery County Police; Montgomery County Maryland; Fox News Staff; Rockville Maryland

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 21-7114
WARREN MATTHEW GIDDINGS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE; MONTGOMERY COUNTY
MARYLAND; FOX NEWS STAFF; ROCKVILLE MARYLAND,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Stephanie A. Gallagher, District Judge. (1:21-cv-01360-SAG)
Submitted: January 20, 2022 Decided: January 25, 2022
Before WILKINSON, DIAZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Warren Matthew Giddings, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Warren Matthew Giddings seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing
without prejudice his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint for failure to comply with the court’s
prior order directing him to amend his complaint. 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). “[D]ismissals without prejudice generally are not appealable unless the
grounds for dismissal clearly indicate that no amendment in the complaint could cure the
defects in the plaintiff’s case.” Bing v. Brivo Sys., LLC, 959 F.3d 605, 610 (4th Cir. 2020)
(internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. 1376 (2021). Because the
district court dismissed Giddings’ complaint without prejudice and Giddings could
possibly cure the pleading deficiencies identified by the court by filing an amended
complaint, the court’s order is neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory or
collateral order.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and remand to the district
court with instructions to allow Giddings to amend the complaint.* 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 AND REMANDED
* In his informal brief and notice of appeal, Giddings claims that he never received
the district court’s order directing him to amend his complaint.

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