Loida A. Usita v. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
LOIDA A. USITA,
Claimant-Appellant,
v.
ERIC K. SHINSEKI, SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS,
Respondent-Appellee.
______________________
2014-7021
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims in No. 11-1560.
______________________
Before N EWMAN, MOORE, and CHEN, Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
Loida A. Usita and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
respond to this court’s order directing the parties to show
cause why this appeal should be dismissed as untimely.
On January 9, 2013, the Veterans Court entered
judgment in Usita’s case. Her notice of appeal was re-
ceived on October 21, 2013, which was 285 days after
judgment.
Case: 14-7021 Document: 13 Page: 1 Filed: 03/18/2014

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USITA v. SHINSEKI 2
To be timely, a notice of appeal must be received by
the Veterans Court within 60 days of the entry of judg-
ment. 38 U.S.C. § 7292(a); 28 U.S.C. § 2107(b); Fed. R.
App. P. 4(a)(1). Like appeals from district courts, the
statutorily prescribed time for filing appeals from the
Veterans Court to this court is mandatory and jurisdic-
tional. See Wagner v. Shinseki, 733 F.3d 1343, 1348 (Fed.
Cir. 2013); see also Henderson v. Shinseki, 131 S. Ct.
1197, 1204-05 (2011) (indicating jurisdictional restrictions
on the time for taking an appeal under section 7292(a)).
Accordingly, even in circumstances in which it would be
equitable to do so, this court is without authority to waive
the deadline for filing an appeal to this court from the
Veterans Court. See Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214
(2007).
Because Usita’s appeal as to the underlying judgment
was filed outside of the statutory deadline for taking an
appeal to this court, we must dismiss the appeal.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
(1) The appeal is dismissed.
(2) Each side shall bear its own costs.
F OR THE COURT
/s/ Daniel E. O’Toole
Daniel E. O’Toole
Clerk of Court
s26
Case: 14-7021 Document: 13 Page: 2 Filed: 03/18/2014

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