United States of America v. Christopher Donnell Brown, a/k/a Stymie, a/k/a Stimey

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 23-6103
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CHRISTOPHER DONNELL BROWN, a/k/a Stymie, a/k/a Stimey,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior District Judge. (3:17-cr-00350-JFA-1; 3:21-
cv-01831-JFA)
Submitted: September 28, 2023 Decided: October 3, 2023
Before NIEMEYER, THACKER, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed in part, affirmed in part by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Christopher Donnell Brown, Appellant Pro Se. William Kenneth Witherspoon, Assistant
United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Columbia,
South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Christopher Donnell Brown seeks to appeal the district court’s orders denying relief
on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion and denying his motion to reopen the appeal period
pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). We dismiss Brown’s appeal from the order denying
his § 2255 motion and affirm the district court’s order denying Brown’s motion to reopen
the appeal period.
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 denying Brown’s § 2255 motion on
April 19, 2022. Brown therefore had until June 20, 2022, to note a timely appeal.1 On
December 14, 2022,2 Brown filed a motion to reopen the appeal period. Because Brown
filed his motion to reopen beyond the 180-day period prescribed by Rule 4(a)(6), the
district court properly denied the motion.
1 Because the appeal period expired on Saturday, June 18, 2022, Brown had until
Monday, June 20, 2022, to file his notice of appeal. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(C).
2 For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that dates appearing on the documents
Brown filed are the earliest dates Brown could have delivered the documents to prison
officials for mailing to the court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266,
276 (1988).

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Brown filed his notice of appeal on January 20, 2023, seven months beyond the
appeal period. Because Brown failed to file a timely notice of appeal or to obtain an
extension or reopening of the appeal period, we lack jurisdiction to review the order
denying his § 2255 motion. We therefore dismiss this portion of the appeal.
For these reasons, we dismiss the appeal as to the denial of the § 2255 motion and
we affirm the district court’s order denying Brown’s motion to reopen the appeal period.
We deny Brown’s motion to expand the record, and 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 IN PART,
AFFIRMED IN PART

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