Background
Anthony Cooper, proceeding pro se, appealed from a district court order denying his habeas corpus petition. The district court had denied his petition on August 18, 2025. Cooper failed to deliver his operative notice of appeal to prison officials until October 8, 2025, which was after the September 17, 2025 deadline set by statute and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
The court’s reasoning
The court initially dismissed the appeal sua sponte for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was untimely. However, upon reviewing the record, the court found that Cooper had delivered a document titled Petition for Certificate of Appealability to prison officials on September 15, 2025. The court held that this document served as the functional equivalent of a notice of appeal and specifically indicated the intent to seek appellate review. Citing Rinaldo v. Corbett and Smith v. Barry, the court directed the district court to transmit this filing to the Eleventh Circuit as a timely notice of appeal.
What it means going forward
The dismissal was vacated in part, and a new appeal is to be opened based on the construed notice of appeal. All pending motions in the original appeal were denied as moot.
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