Ezekwo v. OPMC
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07684
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Judge Swain denied Ezekwo’s untimely extension request and denied her request to appeal without paying court costs.
Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo’s ability to obtain more time to file a notice of appeal and to appeal without paying court costs.
What happened
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo filed the action without a lawyer. The court had dismissed the action as frivolous on March 13, 2023, and entered judgment the next day.
On June 16, 2023, Ezekwo submitted a notice of appeal and asked for more time to file it. The court treated the request as a motion under the federal appellate rule allowing extensions of appeal deadlines. Ezekwo’s deadline was April 13, 2023, and the court found that her request came more than 30 days after that deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the motion for an extension of time to appeal. Judge Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Ezekwo permission to appeal without paying court costs.
The detailed version
- Ezekwo v. OPMC · No. 1:22-cv-07684
- Laura Swain
- June 20, 2023
Background
Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo brought this action without a lawyer against OPMC and other defendants. On March 13, 2023, the court dismissed the action as frivolous. The dismissal order and judgment were entered on March 14, 2023.
Motion and analysis
On June 16, 2023, the court received Ezekwo’s notice of appeal and her motion for an extension of time to file the notice. The court treated the motion as one under Rule 4(a)(5) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Under the rule cited by the court, Ezekwo had 30 days from entry of the order or judgment to file a notice of appeal. The court determined that the deadline was April 13, 2023. Although the rule permits a court to extend the appeal deadline for up to 30 days after the deadline expires, the court found that Ezekwo’s motion was filed more than 30 days after April 13. The court therefore concluded that it could not extend the time for filing the notice of appeal.
Ruling
The court denied Ezekwo’s motion for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal. It also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied her permission to proceed without paying court costs for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.