Ronald L. Cunningham, Plaintiff-appellant, v. James N. Rollins, Warden, Defendant-appellee, 873 F.2d 1438 (4th Cir. 1989)

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - 873 F.2d 1438 (4th Cir. 1989) Submitted: March 10, 1989. Decided: March 31, 1989

Ronald L. Cunningham, appellant pro se.

John Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General, Richard M. Kastendieck (Office of the Attorney General), for appellee.

Before DONALD RUSSELL and CHAPMAN, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Ronald L. Cunningham, a Maryland inmate, submitted his notice of appeal to prison authorities outside the 30-day period established by Fed. R. App. P. 4(a) (1).1  It was therefore untimely. See Houston v. Lack, 56 U.S.L.W. 4728 (U.S. June 24, 1988) (No. 87-5428). In addition, he failed to move for an extension of the appeal period within the additional 30-day period provided by Fed. R. App. P. 4(a) (5).

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)). Appellants failure to note a timely appeal or obtain an extension of the appeal period deprives this Court of jurisdiction to consider this case. We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the dispositive issues recently have been decided authoritatively.2 

DISMISSED.

 1

For the purposes of this appeal we assume that the date Cunningham placed on his notice of appeal is the earliest date that he would have submitted it to prison authorities

 2

In view of the jurisdictional defect in this appeal, we deny appellant's motion for appointment of counsel

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