United States v. Burch

The district court revoked Burch’s supervised release on August 21. Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure gives a criminal defendant 14 days to file a notice of appeal and permits a district court to extend the time to file a notice for up to 30 additional days. On September 26, Burch filed notice of appeal. On October 9, the court granted a requested extension, to render the notice of appeal timely. The government moved to dismiss the appeal, but did not file an appeal (or cross-appeal) of the October 9 order. The Sixth Circuit rejected the motion. The government should have appealed from the district court’s order if it thought the court abused its discretion in granting Burch’s motion for an extension of time to file an appeal; the requirement is mandatory and consistently followed. View "United States v. Burch" on Justia Law