Willis v. Town of Trenton NC

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: January 23, 1996
• Docket: 95-2779
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 95-2779

D. JOHNSON WILLIS,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

and

EARNESTINE BROWN; JAMES EDWARD RHODES; AMY COX; JAMES MEADOWS; LENA BROWN; NELSON DOVE; ROSETTA MEADOWS; THERESA MURRELL; JAMES G. GRADY; ALBERT H. BROWN; ELLEN CROUELL; FRANKLIN BROWN,

Plaintiffs, versus

TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA; COUNTY OF JONES, NORTH CAROLINA; NORTH CAROLINA DEPART- MENT OF ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND NATURAL RESOURCES,

Defendants - Appellees,

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Defendant. No. 95-2822

JAMES EDWARD RHODES; VELMA MCMILLIAN; MAMIE RHODES; HELEN BURNEY; BARBARA BURNEY; SUZETTE BRANCH; LAURA MORGAN; ORESLEY WILLIAMS; EARNESTINE BROWN; IRISH BURNEY,

JONES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA; STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,

JAMES E. STEWART AND ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED; NEUSE RIVER COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS; NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, and its Entity, Division of Community Assistance; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT, and its Entity, Office of Fair Housing; HAROLD KOONCE; C. DAVID HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES,

Defendants.

2 No. 95-2955

JAMES EDWARD RHODES; VELMA MCMILLIAN; MAMIE RHODES; HELEN BURNEY; BARBARA BURNEY; SUZETTE BRANCH; LAURA MORGAN; ORESLEY WILLIAMS; EARNESTINE BROWN; IRISH BURNEY,

JAMES E. STEWART AND ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED; NEUSE RIVER COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS; NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, and its Entity, Division of Community Assistance; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT, and its Entity, Office of Fair Housing; HAROLD KOONCE; C. DAVID HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES,

3 No. 95-2995

HARDY BROCK; BARBARA BURNEY; LENA BROWN; EDNA BROWN; JAMES EDWARD RHODES; FANNIE MCDANIEL; EARNESTINE BROWN; BLANCHIE DOVE; BLANCHE DOVE,

Plaintiffs,

versus

TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA; COUNTY OF JONES, NORTH CAROLINA,

ANN BROCK; EDWARD EUBANKS; CHARLES JONES, Mem- bers of the Town Council of Trenton; C. GLENN SPIVEY, Clerk to the Town Council; NOLAN B. JONES, Chairman of the Jones County Commis- sioners; HORACE B. PHILLIPS; ROBERT WILLIAM MATTOCKS; CHARLES BATTLE, JR.; LESLIE DEWEY STRAYHORN, Members of the Jones County Com- missioners; LARRY P. MEADOWS, Jones County Manager, JOFFREE T. LEGGETT, Mayor of Trenton,

4 No. 95-2996

DANIEL J. WILLIS,

TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA, Defendant - Appellee.

No. 95-2997

HARDY BROCK; ANITA B. BROWN; EARNESTINE BROWN; LENA BROWN; DEBRA CURETON,

TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA,

Defendant - Appellee.

5 No. 95-2998

Defendant - Appellee, and

JOFFREE T. LEGGETT, Mayor of the Town of Trenton; EDWARD EUBANKS, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; ANN BROCK, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; CHARLES JONES, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; CHARLES R. HUGHES, Chairman of Election of Jones County,

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Greenville. Malcolm J. Howard, District Judge. (CA-93-79-4-H, CA-93-23-4-H, CA-92-92-4-H, CA-92- 107-4-H, CA-92-148-4-H, CA-92-159-4-H)

No. 95-2935

6 TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA,

Defendant - Appellee,

JOFFREE T. LEGGETT, Mayor of the Town of Trenton; EDWARD EUBANKS, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; ANN BROCK, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; CHARLES JONES, Member of the Town Council of Trenton; CHARLES R. HUGHES, Chairman of Election of Jones County,

No. 95-2940

HARDY BROCK; BARBARA BURNEY; LENA BROWN; EDNA BROWN; JAMES EDWARD RHODES; FANNIE MCDANIEL; EARNESTINE BROWN,

TOWN OF TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA; COUNTY OF JONES, NORTH CAROLINA, Defendants - Appellees,

7 and

ANN BROCK; EDWARD EUBANKS; CHARLES JONES, Mem- bers of the Town Council of Trenton; C. GLENN SPIVEY, Clerk to the Town Council; NOLAN B. JONES, Chairman of the Jones County Commis- sioners; HORACE B. PHILLIPS; ROBERT WILLIAM MATTOCKS; CHARLES BATTLE, JR.; LESLIE DEWEY STRAYHORN, Members of the Jones County Com- missioners; LARRY P. MEADOWS, Jones County Manager,

No. 95-2941

No. 95-2942

8 9 HARDY BROCK; ANITA B. BROWN; EARNESTINE BROWN; LENA BROWN; DEBRA CURETON,

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of North Carolina, at New Bern. Malcolm J. Howard, District Judge. (CA-92-92-4-H, CA-92-107-4-H, CA-92-148-4-H, CA-92-159-4-H)

Submitted: January 11, 1996 Decided: January 23, 1996

Before RUSSELL, HALL, and WILKINSON, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

D. Johnson Willis, a/k/a Daniel J. Willis, Appellant Pro Se. Robert Scott Pierce, WOMBLE, CARLYLE, SANDRIDGE & RICE, Winston- Salem, North Carolina; Daniel Calvin Oakley, Assistant Attorney General, Charles Jerome Murray, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina; Cheryl A. Marteney, WARD & SMITH, P.A., New Bern, North Carolina, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c).

10 PER CURIAM:

Appellant noted the appeals in Nos. 95-2779, 95-2822, 95-2935,

95-2940, 95-2941, and 95-2942 outside the appeal period established

by Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1), failed to obtain extensions of the

appeal periods within the additional thirty-day period provided by

Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5), and is not entitled to relief under Fed.

R. App. P. 4(a)(6). The time periods established by Fed. R. App. P.

4 are "mandatory and jurisdictional." Browder v. Director, Dep't of Corrections, 434 U.S. 257, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v.

Robinson, 361 U.S. 220, 229 (1960)). The district court entered its

orders on October 14, 1993, January 12 and 13, 1994, and March 22

and 30, 1995. Appellant's notices of appeal were filed on Septem-

ber 25 and 26, 1995, October 16 and 30, 1995, and November 7, 1995. Appellant's failure to note timely appeals or obtain extensions of

the appeal periods deprives this court of jurisdiction to consider

these cases. We therefore dismiss these appeals. Appellant timely appealed the district court orders entered on

October 16, 1995, and November 3, 1995, in Nos. 95-2955, 95-2995,

95-2996, 95-2997, and 95-2998. The subjects of these appeals are

the district court's orders striking Appellant's untimely notices

of appeal. The district court did not have jurisdiction to strike

the untimely notices of appeal. See Liles v. South Carolina Dep't of Corrections, 414 F.2d 612, 614 (4th Cir. 1969). However, we

dismiss these appeals as moot because the untimely appeals were

11 transmitted to this court, so the Appellant received the relief he

sought.

We deny the Appellant's motions for oral argument because the

facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the mate-

rials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional

process.

DISMISSED