Case Name: Bobby Ray GRADY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WAYNE COUNTY CLERK OF COURT, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2013-05-29
Citations: 521 F. App'x 265
Docket Number: No. 13-6071
Parties: Bobby Ray GRADY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WAYNE COUNTY CLERK OF COURT, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before MOTZ and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 521
Pages: 265–266

Head Matter:
Bobby Ray GRADY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WAYNE COUNTY CLERK OF COURT, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 13-6071.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: May 23, 2013.
Decided: May 29, 2013.
Bobby Ray Grady, Appellant pro se.
Before MOTZ and AGEE, 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Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:
Bobby Ray Grady seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief without prejudice on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition and his petition for a writ of mandamus. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2006). 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) (2006). 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 Grady has not made the requisite showing. We find further that the relief Grady seeks is not available by way of mandamus. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauper-is, 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.