US v. Watson, No. 09-3606

In US v. Watson, No. 09-3606, the court affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of ammunition, holding that 1) Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b) is a nonjurisdictional claim-processing rule; and 2) defendant's notice of appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence was not timely filed, and the government properly objected by motion and in its merits brief.

As the court wrote:  "Mario J. Watson pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2), and was sentenced to seventy months' imprisonment. Judgment was entered on April 27, 2009. Months later, the district court received a letter from Watson, wherein he contested his sentence. The letter was docketed as a motion to reduce sentence, and the district court denied relief on October 30, 2009. Within ten days after the denial of his motion, Watson filed a pro se notice of appeal, stating that he was appealing from the April 2009 judgment and the October 2009 order."

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Watson, No. 09-3606