Thomas L. Jones v. ERIC K. SHINSEKI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
2009-7021
THOMAS L. JONES,
Claimant-Appellant,
v.
ERIC K. SHINSEKI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
Respondent-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in
07-0089, Judge Bruce E. Kasold.
ON MOTION
Before NEWMAN, BRYSON, and DYK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM
ORDER
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs moves to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction
Thomas L. Jones' appeal from a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims (CAVC). Jones opposes.
Jones sought review by CAVC of a Board of Veterans' Appeals decision denying
his claim for an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for hearing loss
and tinnitus. The Board ruled that because Jones did not file a claim within a year of
the date of his discharge, the effective date of the grant of service connection could not
be earlier than the date of the receipt of his claim. CAVC affirmed the Board's decision,

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concluding that based on the record the Board did not err in determining Jones'
effective date. Jones appeals to this court
Under 38 U.S.C. § 7292, this court has limited jurisdiction over appeals from
decisions of CAVC. See Forshey v. Principi, 284 F.3d 1335, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (en
banc). This court "may not review (A) a challenge to a factual determination, or (B) a
challenge to a law or regulation as applied to the facts of a particular case." 38 U.S.C. §
7292(d)(2). or laws or regulations as applied to the particular case. 38 U.S.C. §
7292(d)(2).
In his informal brief, Jones contests that CAVC erred in its determination of his
effective date by relying on falsified documents in the record provided by the Secretary.
Although Jones asserts that his arguments involve matters of law, this court must look
beyond the appellant's characterization of the issues to determine whether they fall
within the jurisdiction of this court. Flores v. Nicholson 476 F.3d 1379, 1382 (Fed. Cir.
2007); Helfer v. West, 174 F.3d 1332, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Here, Jones' arguments,
in essence, only contest CAVC's factual determinations in affirming the Board's
decision. Because we agree with the Secretary that this court lacks jurisdiction, we
must dismiss Jones' appeal.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
2009-7021 - 2 -

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cc: Thomas L. Jones
Stephen C. Tosini, Esq.
s20 MAR 0 5 2009
ISSUED AS A MANDATE:
MAR 05 2009
Pub
CLERK
The Secretary's motion to dismiss is granted.
Each side shall bear its own costs.
FOR THE COURT
MAR 0 5 2009 /s/ Jan Horbaly
Jan Horbaly
Clerk FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT
Date
2009-7021 - 3 -

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