Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Albert Charles BURGESS, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-03-02
Citations: 635 F. App'x 115
Docket Number: No. 15-7660
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Albert Charles BURGESS, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before NIEMEYER and KING, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 635
Pages: 115–116

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Albert Charles BURGESS, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 15-7660.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Feb. 19, 2016.
Decided: March 2, 2016.
Albert Charles Burgess, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Thomas Richard Ascik, Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, Kimlani M. Ford, Cortney Randall, Edward R. Ryan, Assistant United States Attorneys, Charlotte, North Carolina,-for Appellee.
Before NIEMEYER and KING, 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Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit,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:
Albert Charles Burgess, Jr., seeks to appeal from the district court's order denying his motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. We conclude that Burgess' motion was in substance a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion.
The district court's order is not appeal-able unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certifícate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (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 motion 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 Burgess has not made the requisite showing. The district court lacked jurisdiction to deny § 2255 relief on the merits because Burgess' motion to dismiss challenged the validity of his convictions and should have been construed as a successive § 2255 motion. See Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 531-32, 125 S.Ct. 2641, 162 L.Ed.2d 480 (2005); United States v. Winestock, 340 F.3d 200, 207 (4th Cir.2003). In the absence of pre-filing authorization from this court, the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear a successive § 2255 motion. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3) (2012).
Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED.