Perez v. Brown

9 Vet. App. 452, 1996 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 768, 1996 WL 596228
CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
DecidedOctober 3, 1996
DocketNo. 95-652
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 9 Vet. App. 452 (Perez v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perez v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 452, 1996 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 768, 1996 WL 596228 (Cal. 1996).

Opinion

STEINBERG, Judge:

Veteran Joseph F. Perez seeks to appeal a January 27,1995, Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board) decision. The Secretary has moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the veteran had failed to submit a timely Notice of Appeal (NOA). For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant the Secretary’s motion to dismiss the appeal.

I. Background

On January 27, 1995, the BVA mailed a copy of its decision (regarding the veteran) of the same date to the Washington, D.C., office of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and to the veteran, who had executed a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 21-22 (Appointment of Veterans Service Organization as Claimant’s Representative) appointing the DAV as his representative. See Secretary’s Motion (Mot.) to Dismiss, Declaration of Robert L. Ashworth (Declaration), at 2-3. An additional copy was forwarded by flat mail to the DAV office at the VA Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois. On the VA Form 21-22, the veteran’s power of attorney, the veteran filled in “D.A.V.” in block 3 (Name of SERVICE ORGanization Recognized BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS) and “any accredited D.A.V. Representative]” in block 12 (Name and Address of Chapter, Post, or Unit).

On April 21, 1995, the Clerk of the Court received the following statement from the veteran on a VA Statement in Support of Claim (Form 21-4138):

When I entered the Army I entered with two knee injuries, when I left — I left with aggravation of [the] knees. Their [sic] was a desk sargent [sic] a[t] Fort Gordon who put-in for my discharge [and] statted [sic] that he would submit for a medical discharged [sic], or if needed he would keep-it on file, which may still be on file either [at] Fort Gordon or records, due to the fact I was accepted by AFEEs with the or-tho[pedic] and physical] exam[inations], I left due to aggravation.

The veteran’s handwritten name, signature, VA file number, and address were contained in the statement. On April 24, the Clerk of the Court’s office responded to the veteran by letter: “This is in response to your inquiry requesting information regarding an appeal to the [Court] of an adverse decision of the [BVA], I have attached a copy of Court Form 6 with its enclosures to assist you”. The veteran then sent a formal NOA on the form the Court had supplied. On July 10, 1995, the Court received that form in an envelope postmarked July 6,1995.

On October 31, 1995, the Secretary moved to dismiss the appeal. He asserts that the appellant’s July 6 submission did not meet the 120-day statutory deadline for filing an NOA and that the Court therefore lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Mot. at 6-7. On November 13, 1995, the veteran sent the Court a copy of his April 21 statement with the following notation: “This is the letter I sumitted [sic] back in April appealling [sic] my case”.

II. Analysis

The ultimate burden of establishing the Court’s jurisdiction rests with the party seeking to appeal. See McNutt v. G.M.A.C., [454]*454298 U.S. 178, 189, 56 S.Ct. 780, 785, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936). To have been timely filed under 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a) and Rule 4 of this Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, an NOA must have been received by the Court (or, in certain circumstances, deemed so received) within 120 days after notice of the BVA decision was mailed to an appellant. See Butler v. Derwinski, 960 F.2d 139, 140-41 (Fed.Cir.1992). This Court’s appellate jurisdiction derives exclusively from the statutory grant of authority provided by Congress and may not be extended beyond that permitted by law. See Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 818, 108 S.Ct. 2166, 2178, 100 L.Ed.2d 811 (1988); see also Premier v. Derwinski, 928 F.2d 392, 393-94 (Fed.Cir.1991); Skinner v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 2, 3 (1990)

A. Mailing of BVA Decision

Initially, the Court must decide whether the July 6,1995, formal NOA can be considered a timely NOA. After reaching a decision, the BVA is required to mail a copy of that decision to “the claimant and the claimant’s authorized representative (if any) at the last known address of the claimant and at the last known address of any such representative”. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(e).

The BVA must mail decision copies to both the claimant and any representative, and a defect in mailing to either one can toll the start of the 120-day period for appeal to this Court. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(e); Ashley v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 307, 311 (1992). In Leo v. Brown, the Court held that the BVA decision must be mailed to the “last known address” of the claimant and the claimant’s representative as required by section 7104(e). Leo, 8 Vet.App. 410, 413 (1995). In Hill v. Brown, the Court held that any address in block 12 does not bear on the question of the “last known address” of the representative. Hill, 9 Vet.App. 246, 249 (1996). The Court further held that in a case with a post-May 31, 1994, BVA decision where the claimant has designated a recognized national veterans service organization representative but did not specify an address in block 3, and where that organization has specified — as of the date of the BVA decision in question — to the BVA an address for the mailing of BVA decision copies, the Court will presume that any mailing of such a BVA decision copy to the designated representative was properly carried out by mailing to that designated representative’s last known address. Ibid. Such presumption may be rebutted by the claimant by showing that the decision copy was not, in fact, mailed to the address designated by the representative. Ibid.

The Secretary has filed an October 1995 BVA official’s declaration that the representative’s copy of the BVA decision in the instant case was mailed on January 27, 1995, to the address specified in “instructions received from senior officials of DAV [Disabled American Veterans]”. Declaration at 2. The appellant has not rebutted the presumption that the mailing was carried out properly. See Hill, supra. Therefore, the Court holds that the July 6, 1995, formal NOA was not filed within 120 days after the mailing of the BVA decision and is thus not timely. See Butler, supra.

B. Court Rules 2 and 3(c)

The remaining issue presented for decision is whether the veteran’s April 21,1995, statement is a valid NOA. In addition to the jurisdictional requirement that an NOA be filed within 120 days after notice of the decision was mailed, Rule 3(c) of this Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules), entitled “Content”, specifies that an NOA shall:

(1) name the party or parties taking the appeal;

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9 Vet. App. 452, 1996 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 768, 1996 WL 596228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perez-v-brown-cavc-1996.