Defendant Angel Torres-Martinez, a federal prisoner appearing pro se, filed a notice of intent to appeal his underlying criminal judgment. The district court entered judgment on October 8, 2025. The government moved to dismiss the appeal as untimely, noting the notice was not filed until February 9, 2026. In response, Torres-Martinez argued that his court-appointed counsel was ineffective for failing to file a timely notice and for advising him incorrectly about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. The Tenth Circuit was asked to resolve the timeliness issue and the request for appointed counsel.
The court applied Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b)(1)(A), which mandates that a defendant must file a notice of appeal within 14 days after the district court enters judgment. The court characterized this time limit as an 'inflexible claim-processing rule' that the government may forfeit if not properly raised, but which the court must enforce once invoked. The judgment was entered on October 8, 2025, setting the deadline for the notice of appeal at October 22, 2025. Torres-Martinez's notice was dated January 24, 2026, and postmarked February 4, 2026, with actual filing occurring on February 9, 2026. The court rejected the argument that the prison mailbox rule could save the appeal, stating that even with every possible benefit of that rule, the filing remained untimely. Furthermore, the court noted that the authority to extend the filing deadline lies solely with the district court, not the appellate court. The maximum extension the district court could have granted was 30 days beyond the original deadline, which would have been November 21, 2025. Since the notice was filed more than two months after that extended deadline, the appeal was dismissed.
The appeal is dismissed with prejudice, meaning the judgment of the district court stands and cannot be appealed on these grounds. The request for appointed counsel is denied as moot because the appeal no longer exists. This decision reinforces the strict adherence to the 14-day filing window in criminal cases and clarifies that the prison mailbox rule does not excuse a delay of this magnitude.
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