Case Name: Harold L. CYRUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-04-28
Citations: 647 F. App'x 216
Docket Number: No. 15-7648
Parties: Harold L. CYRUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before WILKINSON and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 647
Pages: 216–217

Head Matter:
Harold L. CYRUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 15-7648.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: March 31, 2016.
Decided: April 28, 2016.
Harold L. Cyrus, Appellant Pro Se. Shannon Frederick Kiser, Office of the Attorney General, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.
Before WILKINSON and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Harold L. Cyrus seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The order is not appeal-able unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certificate of ap-pealability will not issue absent "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85, 120 S.Ct. 1595.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Cyrus has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Cyrus' motion for a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in for-ma pauperis, and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the máterials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED.