Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-09-08139/USCOURTS-ca4-09-08139-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Daniel Watlington
Appellant

Document Text:

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 09-8139

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

DANIEL WATLINGTON, a/k/a Gator Slim,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern

District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior

District Judge. (5:05-cr-00004-F-1)

Submitted: June 1, 2010 Decided: June 7, 2010

Before GREGORY, SHEDD, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Daniel Watlington, Appellant Pro Se. Anne Margaret Hayes, 

Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for 

Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:

Daniel Watlington appeals the district court=s order

denying his motion for disqualification of the district court 

judge who presided over his criminal trial from presiding over 

the 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2009) motion Watlington 

planned to file. The district court denied the motion on the 

merits. Because Watlington had not yet filed his § 2255 motion, 

however, the disqualification motion was premature. Industry

Network Sys., Inc. v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 54 F.3d 150, 

156 (3d Cir. 1995). We therefore affirm as modified to reflect 

that the dismissal is without prejudice because the motion was 

not ripe for review. We dispense with oral argument because the 

facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the 

materials before the court and argument would not aid the

decisional process. 

AFFIRMED

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