Khan v. SAP Labs, LLC
- Beth Freeman
- 5:18-cv-07490
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Khan v. SAP Labs, LLC, Judge Freeman terminated Khan’s motion to extend his appeal deadline because the Ninth Circuit’s mandate barred further action.
Muhammad Khan’s request for more time to appeal was terminated; the Ninth Circuit’s dismissal of his appeal as untimely remained in effect.
What happened
In Khan v. SAP Labs, LLC, the district court had entered judgment for SAP Labs and against Muhammad Khan, then denied Khan’s request to alter or amend the judgment.
Khan filed a late notice of appeal. The Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal as untimely, ruling that the 30-day appeal deadline was jurisdictional and that courts could not create exceptions to it.
The district court said it lacked jurisdiction to consider Khan’s request for more time and terminated the motion because it could not take action contradicting the Ninth Circuit’s mandate. Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued the order.
The detailed version
- Khan v. SAP Labs, LLC · No. 5:18-cv-07490
- Beth Freeman
- July 6, 2023
Background
The district court entered judgment for the defendants and against Muhammad Khan on August 30, 2022. It denied Khan’s motion to alter or amend the judgment on March 6, 2023.
Khan filed a notice of appeal on April 19, 2023, acknowledging that the notice was delayed. He cited, among other things, an asserted delay in receiving the order, medical issues, and a broken jail typewriter.
Prior appellate ruling
On June 2, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed Khan’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction because it was untimely. The Ninth Circuit stated that the 30-day deadline for filing an appeal is jurisdictional and that courts lack authority to create equitable exceptions. The Ninth Circuit’s mandate issued on June 26, 2023.
Motion and ruling
Khan then filed a motion in the district court seeking an extension of time to appeal. The court explained that the rule of mandate doctrine prevents a lower court from taking action that contradicts an appellate court’s mandate. Because the Ninth Circuit’s mandate gave effect to its judgment dismissing the appeal as untimely, the district court stated that it lacked jurisdiction to consider Khan’s requested relief.
The court terminated Khan’s motion for an extension of time to appeal. It did not change the Ninth Circuit’s dismissal of the appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.