Brooks v. Bird

141 F. App'x 82

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 29, 2005
• Docket: 05-6145
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Jay Mikal Brooks seeks to appeal from the district court’s order dismissing his complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000). The district court dismissed Brooks’ complaint by an order entered on December 9, 2004. On January 27, 2005, the district court received a letter expressing Brooks’ wish to appeal the order. Brooks stated that he had been in transit in the federal prison system and only learned of the dismissal of his case when he informed the district court of his new address. He submitted that the jail where he was originally confined did not forward his mail.

Brooks’ notice of appeal was made within the period of time applicable for a determination of excusable neglect or good cause under Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(5), and expressed a desire to preserve his appeal. See Myers v. Stephenson, 781 F.2d 1036; 1038-39 (4th Cir.1986). Accordingly, we remand this case to the district court for the limited purpose of permitting that court to determine whether Brooks has shown excusable neglect or good cause warranting an extension of time for filing a notice of appeal. The record, as supple- merited, then will be returned to this court for further consideration.

REMANDED