United States v. Albert Burgess, Jr.

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 17, 2025
• Docket: 25-6330
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 25-6330 Doc: 8 Filed: 06/17/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 25-6330

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

ALBERT CHARLES BURGESS, JR.,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Asheville. Graham C. Mullen, Senior District Judge. (1:09-cr-00017-GCM-WCM-1)

Submitted: June 12, 2025 Decided: June 17, 2025

Before HARRIS and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Albert Charles Burgess, Jr., Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 25-6330 Doc: 8 Filed: 06/17/2025 Pg: 2 of 3

PER CURIAM:

Albert Charles Burgess, Jr., seeks to appeal his 292-month prison term imposed as

part of the criminal judgment entered following his convictions for possessing visual

material depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which were shipped in

interstate commerce via computer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B), and receiving

visual materials depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which were

shipped in interstate commerce via computer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2).

In criminal cases, a defendant must file his notice of appeal within 14 days after the

entry of judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A)(i). With or without a motion, upon a

showing of excusable neglect or good cause, the district court may grant an extension of

up to 30 days to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4); United States v. May,

855 F.3d 271, 275 n.3 (4th Cir. 2017). The district court entered the criminal judgment on

August 27, 2010. Burgess’ notice of appeal was filed on April 15, 2025. ∗

Burgess’ appeal notice is thus untimely, and he has not obtained an extension of the

appeal period. Further, although the appeal period in a criminal case is not a jurisdictional

provision, but, rather, a claim-processing rule, United States v. Urutyan, 564 F.3d 679, 685

(4th Cir. 2009), we conclude that, because this court already has affirmed Burgess’ prison

term, United States v. Burgess, 684 F.3d 445, 460 (4th Cir. 2012), and Burgess has

∗ For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that the date appearing on the notice of appeal is the earliest date it could have been properly delivered to prison officials for mailing to the district court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988).

2 USCA4 Appeal: 25-6330 Doc: 8 Filed: 06/17/2025 Pg: 3 of 3

completed collateral review of the same criminal judgment he now seeks to appeal,

circumstances meriting sua sponte dismissal of this appeal are present, see United States v.

Oliver, 878 F.3d 120, 123, 128-29 & n.3 (4th Cir. 2017).

We therefore dismiss this appeal. 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