United States v. Jerry Brown

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 20-1251

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United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Jerry N. Brown

Defendant - Appellant

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Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield

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Submitted: April 12, 2021 Filed: May 20, 2021

[Unpublished]

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Before LOKEN, WOLLMAN, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Jerry Brown filed this appeal to challenge a condition of supervised release.

While the appeal was pending, however, he violated other conditions and received prison time. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). With no new term of supervised release

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imposed by the district court,1 nor any reason to expect that he will be subject to the challenged condition again, we dismiss the appeal as moot.2 See United States v. Wynn, 553 F.3d 1114, 1119 (8th Cir. 2009).

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1 The Honorable M. Douglas Harpool, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.

2 We note that the government’s use of a letter filed under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(j) to raise mootness “was procedurally irregular.” McGehee v. Neb. Dep’t of Corr. Servs., 987 F.3d 785, 787 (8th Cir. 2021). The proper vehicle would have been a motion to dismiss the appeal. Compare Fed. R. App. P. 27(a)(1) (“An application for an order or other relief is made by motion . . . .”), with Fed. R. App. P. 28(j) (allowing the use of a letter to cite “pertinent and significant authorities [that] come to a party’s attention after the party’s brief has been filed”).