Appellants' Response to Appellee's Motion to Dismiss Appeal

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IN TI{E UNITED
FOR TEE

JUIIA P. WIIDER,

Petltloner,

VS.

EAION M. IAMBERT, et a1',

ResPondents.

STATES COIIRT OF A
EIEVENTH CIRCUIT

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EAI,S

4-7287

PP

APPEIIANTS' RESP0NSI0-T0
APPELT

AppellantsreepectfullynovethisEonorableCourtto
cleny Appellee,s Motlon to Dlsnlss the Appeal tn thls case antl

woulct show the followlng:

l.Thenotlontocllsmissisbasettonthefailureof

the State of Alabarua to conply wlth the procedural

requirenents of Rule 1O(b) of the Fetleral Rules of Appellate

procetture, speclfieally the failure to ortler a transcrlpt or

otherwise act wlthin ten (10) days of the date of filing the

Notlce of APPeal.

2.Theortglna}NottceofAppealwasflledonAprtl
2T,lgs4.Boweverronlvlayl4rlgs4rwtthintheperiotlof
tlme allowect for the appeal, appellants filed an Arrended

Notlce of Appeal. lhat amencletl Notiee ras tluly docketed' As

the Flnal Juclgeneni; was entered on April 15, and' the

transcrtpt nas ordered. on May 21, 1984, the aCtlOnS required

byRulelo(b)wereacconplisheclwithin24daysofthe
original appeal, wtthin seven (?) d'ays of the 'A'nended Notice

ofAppeal,andwlthtnJsd'aysoftheFinalJudgement.



,.Ifthelo.dayperiod'rungfronthetiraeofthe
Anend'ettNotlce,thenappellantsclearlyconplieclwlthRule
1O(b). (we note, however, that a copy of the appeal

lnfornatl0n sheet was not filed wlth the Dlstrict court untl1

t{ay 29t flfteen (15) days after the Amende6 Notlce of

Appeal.) Therefore, nuch of the renalnd.er of this response

assunes arguendo that the pertod ran fron the orlginal notlee

or that the failure to flle in the clerk's office a'nounts to

technical non-comPllance'

4.Appellantssubmltthatthefailuretoactwithinten
d'aysaSaforesaid'wastheresultofeventsbeyondourcontrol
orofneglectwhichwehopethlsHonorableCourtwillfincl
excusable.

5.Theeventsrelevanttoadeterninatlonofwhether
this appeal shoulct be dlsnlssed are set out below anti are

supportedbytheaffitlavltofDavid'Chrlsty,attaeheclhereto
as Exhiblt A.

Date Event

4 /15 /84

4 /27 /84

same

5 /o4/e4

Final Jutlgement

Notiee of Appeal fl1ed by-Jean Wll1tans Brown'
Asslstant AttorneY General

Mg.BrownlefttheAttorneyGenerallsoffiee
on a one-Year leave of absence

Date of letter fron Charles A' Gradd'ick'
Attorney eenerai- io ttre unclersignetl (p't't'
i;;;;I;;)-astite,e to hanttle these appeals'
The letter was ilalIed to the wrong atldress.

Above letter finally recieved. by me (lz days
*fter Notlee of APPLaI filed)5 /09 /84



Date

5/11/84

sane

satre

5 /14/84

5 /1 4/84
( probable)

5 /15 /84

5 /21 /e4

5 /24/84

gane

i /2e /a4

SAIDE

Event

Formal Request to Ulthdraw by Jean Wl1llans
Brown filad in District Court

Notlce of Appearance ln Distrlct Court flIed
;; -;h; 

unaJ^r'sienea ( p. t'l. Johnston)

DateoffornletterfrontheEleventhCtrcult
to Grattdlck and Brorn attvlsing thern of the
do"t"ti"S of the appeal an{.rgnlndlng then of
ih; reqof"erents o?-Ru1e 1o(b), F'R'A'P'

Anencletl Notlee of Appeal filed tn the Dlstrlct
Court

Above letter recelvecl in Attorney Generalrg
Offlee
uAPPEAITINI'ORI'IAIIONSEEET"obtainetlfromthe
District Court by Asslstant AG Davld Chrlsty

Appeal infornation sheet completed and.-nalled
t-o-gourt Reporter per lnstructlons ln May 11

letter fron- the Eleventh Clrcuit

Reporter's Acknowleclgenelt (Part 2-o! tI"
Apieaf Infornatlon Sheet) compl.etetl by the
Court Reporter

Motion to Disnlss Appeal flled (assumett)

Servtce Copy of I'lotlon to Disniss Appeal
recelved bY aPPellante

Copy of Appeal Infornatlon Sheet hand-earrietl
to-btstrict Court Clerk's offlee

5. The untlersigned attorney who ls handling thls

appeal ls the Dlstrlct Attorney for Plckens county, Alabana'

Ee is totally unfamlllar wlth appellate procetluree and, ln

faet, has never been involved tn an appeal ln Federal Court'

Moreover, he was not notif letl that he woulcl be hantlllng the

case until May 9, twelve days after the Notice of Appeal was

fl1ed.



T.Theshortcle}ayoccaslone<Ibythelnexperlenceof
counsel and hls assletant at the Attorney General'ls Offtce

hasnotoperatedtothesubstantialtletrimentofthe
appellee.Agshownlntheattaehedafflttavlt,sheisnot
presently ln cuetotly, havlng flnlshed her sentence on

Septenber 25, 1985.

S.Responclentsearnestlysubnitthatthetechnleal
failure matle the basts of the notlon to tllsnlss the appeal

was the reeult of fortultoue events or of excueable negleet

or overslght and suggest that the d.lsrnlssal of thls appeal

woulcl be unprecedentetl ancl not ln the lnterests of justiee'

WIIEREFORE, appellants respeetfully Bove thls Eonorable'.

court to d,eny the Motlon to Dtsmiss thls Appeal ancl to a11or

this matter to proceecl to a tleclslon on the nerlts'

Respectfully subrolttetl this /Jf day of June, 1984'

ADDRESS OF COIINSEI,:

Attorney General's Annex
559 South lawrence Street
Irtontgonery, Alaba"ma 16104
(zos) ltl-elst

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CERTIFICATE OP SERVICE

' L day of June,f herebY certtfY that f have thle I
lgS4roervedacopyoftheforegolngontheattorneysforthe
petltloner by placlng se're ln the unlted states na11' poeteSe

prepald ancl addressed ea follors:
Yanzetta Penn Durant
Attorney at trar
5f9 Hartha Street
llontgonerY, LL ,6104

Irenl Gutnler
Attoraey at trav
99 Eutleon Street
I 5th Floor
Nev York, Inf 1001,