United States v. James Earl Smith

I.

James Earl Smith appeals his conviction for bank robbery, entered upon his plea of guilty. He argues that his plea must be set aside because the district court failed to explain the nature of the charges to him in open court, as required by Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1). We vacate Smith’s plea and conviction, and remand for entry of a new plea and further appropriate proceedings.

II.

Before proceeding to the merits, we address a threshold jurisdictional issue. Smith filed his notice of appeal seven days late. We remanded his case to the district court for a determination whether Smith was to be granted an extension of time on the ground that his late filing was due to excusable neglect. See Fed.RApp.P. 4(b). The district court found that Smith’s neglect was excusable, rendering his appeal timely. We then directed the parties to address in their briefs the question whether the district court abused its discretion in finding excusable neglect.

We now conclude that there was no abuse of discretion. The district court found that Smith and his attorney had attempted to contact each other regarding whether to file a notice of appeal, but that it was difficult for Smith’s attorney to…