Raekwon Bryant v. NC DPS

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: December 27, 2022
• Docket: 22-6928
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 22-6928 Doc: 12 Filed: 12/27/2022 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-6928

RAEKWON BRYANT,

Petitioner - Appellant,

v.

NC DPS,

Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. James C. Dever III, District Judge. (5:22-hc-02068-D)

Submitted: December 20, 2022 Decided: December 27, 2022

Before NIEMEYER and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Raekwon Bryant, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 22-6928 Doc: 12 Filed: 12/27/2022 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Raekwon Bryant seeks to appeal the district court’s judgment dismissing without

prejudice his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for failure to pay the filing fee. On July 7, 2022,

the district court granted Bryant’s motion to reopen his case and vacated the judgment of

dismissal. See Bryant v. NC DPS, No. 5:22-hc-02068-D (E.D.N.C. July 7, 2022).

Therefore, Bryant’s appeal of that judgment is now moot. See Williams v. Ozmint, 716

F.3d 801, 809 (4th Cir. 2013) (explaining that “[a] case becomes moot when the issues

presented are no longer live or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome”

(internal quotation marks omitted)); see also Fort Knox Music Inc. v. Baptiste, 257 F.3d

108, 110 (2d Cir. 2001) (noting that because “[a] vacated judgment has no effect,” an

appeal from a vacated judgment is moot). Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal as moot.

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