United States v. Jerry Lee Smith

MOORE, Circuit Judge.

The issue before us is whether criminal defendants possess the right to a speedy appeal in the first appeal as of right. In a prior appeal to this court, three years elapsed between the filing of the notice of appeal and the issuance of the court’s disposition in this case. On remand for resentenc-ing, the district court found the delay to be violative of due process and released the defendant from custody. Although we agree that the Due Process Clause does provide some minimum guarantee of a prompt appeal to defendants, we hold that the delay in this case did not rise to…