Christopher Stewart v. United States

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
CHRISTOPHER STEWART,
Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
UNITED STATES,
Defendant-Appellee
______________________
2024-1304
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
in No. 1:23-cv-00934-DAT, Judge David A. Tapp.
______________________
Before D YK, WALLACH , and CUNNINGHAM , Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
In response to this court’s January 22, 2024 show cause
order, the United States urges dismissal of this appeal as
untimely. Christopher Stewart has not responded.
Mr. Stewart filed a complaint at the United States
Court of Federal Claims, alleging violations by the “United
States District Court.” Compl. at 2. Among other cases,
Mr. Stewart identified Stewart v. Quality Carriers, Inc.,
No. 3:19-cv-0606 (M.D. La.) (“the -0606 action”), a case in-
volving a private defendant involved in a motor vehicle
Case: 24-1304 Document: 5 Page: 1 Filed: 04/10/2024

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STEWART v. US 2
accident. The Court of Federal Claims dismissed Mr. Stew-
art’s complaint and entered judgment on July 14, 2023. On
December 26, 2023, Mr. Stewart filed a notice of appeal
from “the Order Granting With[]draw” entered on
“11/14/2023,” identifying both his case before the Court of
Federal Claims and the -0606 action. ECF No. 1-2 at 1.
A party seeking appellate review must comply with the
“linked jurisdictional provisions” of Rules 3 and 4 of the
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Becker v. Montgom-
ery, 532 U.S. 757, 765 (2001). Rule 3 requires a notice of
appeal to designate “the judgment” or “appealable order”
from “which the appeal is taken.” Fed R. App. P. 3(c)(1)(B).
Rule 4 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2107, 2522 further require that an
appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
must be filed within 60 days of the final judgment or order
being appealed if one of the parties is the United States.
These requirements are “jurisdictional in nature,” and
their “satisfaction is a prerequisite to appellate review.”
Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244, 248 (1992) (citation omitted);
see also Marandola v. United States, 518 F.3d 913, 914–15
(Fed. Cir. 2008) (citation omitted).
Mr. Stewart failed to satisfy these requirements. His
notice of appeal was filed more than 60 days from the entry
of judgment in this case. And while it was filed within 60
days of November 14, 2023, no order from that date or
anything close appears on the Court of Federal Claims’s
docket.* We must therefore dismiss the appeal.
* We note that to the extent Mr. Stewart was at-
tempting to appeal from the -0606 action, the notice also is
untimely because it was filed more than one year after the
latest docket entry in the -0606 action. See 28 U.S.C.
Case: 24-1304 Document: 5 Page: 2 Filed: 04/10/2024

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STEWART v. US 3
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
(1) The appeal is dismissed.
(2) Each party shall bear its own costs.
April 10, 2024
Date
F OR THE COURT
§ 2107(a) (providing for 30 days to appeal when the suit
does not include the United States as a party).
Case: 24-1304 Document: 5 Page: 3 Filed: 04/10/2024

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