Case Name: Demetrius Jarod SMALLS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Joseph McFADDEN, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-01-19
Citations: 630 F. App'x 208
Docket Number: No. 15-7265
Parties: Demetrius Jarod SMALLS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Joseph McFADDEN, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before AGEE, WYNN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges,
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 630
Pages: 208–209

Head Matter:
Demetrius Jarod SMALLS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Joseph McFADDEN, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 15-7265.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Jan. 14, 2016.
Decided: Jan. 19, 2016.
Demetrius Jarod Smalls, Appellant Pro Se. James Anthony Mabry, Assistant Attorney General, Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before AGEE, WYNN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges,

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Demetrius Jarod Smalls seeks to appeal the district court's text order denying as moot the motion to dismiss that Smalls filed in his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The court previously accepted the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denied relief on Smalls' 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certificate of appealability 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 Smalls has not made the requisite showing. 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.