RENÉE MARIE BUMB, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court upon Petitioner's letter request to waive the time required to file an appeal. (ECF No. 17.) For the reasons stated herein, the Court will grant Petitioner's request, and extend the time for Petitioner to file a notice of appeal until fourteen (14) days from the date of entry of this Memorandum and Order, pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5)(A).
On October 31, 2016, the Court issued an Opinion and Order, denying Petitioner's habeas petition. (ECF Nos. 15, 16.) On January 3, 2017, Petitioner filed a letter request to waive the time required to file an appeal. (ECF No. 17.) Although Petitioner's letter request is undated, it arrived in an envelope postmarked December 28, 2016. (Id.) In support of his motion, Petitioner stated:
(ECF No. 17, at 1-2.)
Requests to extend the time to appeal are governed by Fed. R. App. P. 4. "[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional requirement." See Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 213 (2007). "[W]hen an appeal is taken beyond the time set out in the Rule, an appellate court is without jurisdiction to entertain and decide it." Id. In a civil case, with certain exceptions not applicable here, the notice of appeal required by Fed. R. App. P. 3 must be filed with the district clerk within thirty days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1).
"Rule 4(a)(5)(A) states, `[t]he district court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal if: (i) a party so moves no later than 30 days after the time prescribed by this Rule 4(a) expires; and (ii) regardless of whether its motion is filed before or during the 30 days after the time prescribed by this Rule 4(a) expires, that party shows excusable neglect or good cause.'" Allen v. Vaughn, 298 F. App'x 130, 133 (3d Cir. 2008) (citing Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5)(A). "No extension under . . . Rule 4(a)(5) may exceed 30 days after the prescribed time or 14 days after the date when the order granting the motion is entered, whichever is later." Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5)(C).
Here, Petitioner moved to extend the time to file an appeal, given the benefit of the prisoner mailbox rule,
Petitioner must also meet the excusable neglect or good cause requirement of Rule 4(a)(5)(A)(ii). Petitioner has shown good cause to extend the time to appeal because the Opinion and Order which he seeks to appeal were mailed to Fort Dix in New Jersey after he was transferred to the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Petitioner was deprived of time to file a notice of appeal through no fault of his own, as he had timely notified the Court of his change of address. Therefore, the Court can grant Petitioner's request to extend the time to file a notice of appeal.
Rule 4(a)(5)(C) limits the extension to "30 days after the prescribed time or 14 days after the date when the order granting the motion is entered, whichever is later." Thirty days after the prescribed time, December 31, 2016, has passed. This Court is limited to granting a fourteen day extension, beginning when this Memorandum and Order is entered.