JAMES BRYANT, PETITIONER-APPELLANT,
v.
MARION J. ELLIOTT, WARDEN OF ATMORE STATE PRISON, RESPONDENT-APPELLEE

5th Cir. | 1972-10-04
No. 72-2458
467 F.2d 1109 Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1972) Positive Treatment
Cited by 26 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the appeal, though slightly late, should be remanded to allow the petitioner to seek an extension of time based on excusable neglect.


Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner appealed the denial of habeas corpus, but the notice of appeal was filed slightly after the 30-day deadline under Rule 4(a). The petitioner…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

In this appeal from the denial of ha-beas corpus the preliminary question is whether the appeal was timely, since Rule 4(a) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure requires petitioner to file a notice of appeal with the Clerk of the District Court within thirty days of the entry of the District Court’s order. Here the petitioner’s notice of appeal was less than five days overdue.

Petitioner appealed in forma pauperis, apparently without the assistance of an attorney. While we do not suggest that ignorance alone is an excuse, we are influenced by doubts that he understood Rule 4(a)’s provision relative to the District Court extending the time upon a showing of excusable neglect.

Under these circumstances we remand the case to permit petitioner within thirty days to request the District Judge to extend the time for appeal (under Rule 4(a)) on showing excusable neglect. Pending the outcome, jurisdiction will be retained by us. Evans v. Jones, 4 Cir., 1966, 366 F. 2d 772; C. Wright, Law of Federal Courts 467 (1970). Cf. Weaver v. Texas, 5 Cir., 1972, 464 F. 2d 562.

Remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (13 total)

Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw