Cite as: 507 U. S. 234 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Similarly, in many cases, the "efficient . . . operation" of the appellate process, identified as an independent concern in Estelle, 420 U. S., at 537, will not be advanced by dismissal of appeals filed after former fugitives are recaptured. It is true that an escape may give rise to a "flurry of extraneous matters," requiring that a court divert its attention from the merits of the case before it. United States v. Puzzanghera, 820 F. 2d 25, 26 (CA1), cert. denied, 484 U. S. 900 (1987). The court put to this "additional trouble," 820 F. 2d, at 26, however, at least in the usual course of events, will be the court before which the case is pending at the time of escape. When an appeal is filed after recapture, the "flurry," along with any concomitant delay, likely will exhaust itself well before the appellate tribunal enters the picture.16
Nor does dismissal of appeals filed after recapture operate to protect the "digni[ty]" of an appellate court. Cf. Estelle, 420 U. S., at 537. It is often said that a fugitive "flouts" the authority of the court by escaping, and that dismissal is an appropriate sanction for this act of disrespect. See, e. g., United States v. DeValle, 894 F. 2d 133, 138 (CA5 1990); United States v. Persico, 853 F. 2d 134, 137-138 (CA2 1988);
16 This case well illustrates the way in which preappeal flight may delay district court, but not appellate court, proceedings. Petitioner's sentencing was scheduled for June 1989. Because he fled, however, and because the District Court resentenced him upon his return to custody, his final sentence was not entered until January 1991. Supra, at 237-238. Accordingly, petitioner's 11-month period of fugitivity delayed culmination of the District Court proceedings by as much as 19 months.
In the appellate court, on the other hand, the timing of proceedings was unaffected by petitioner's flight. Had petitioner filed his notice of appeal before he fled, of course, then the Court of Appeals might have been required to reschedule an already docketed appeal, causing some delay. But here, petitioner filed his notice of appeal only after he was returned to custody, and the Court of Appeals was therefore free to docket his case pursuant to its regular schedule and at its convenience. In short, a lapse of time that precedes invocation of the appellate process does not translate, by itself, into delay borne by the appellate court.
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