Case Name: Breyon D. MIDDLEBROOKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Duane TERRELL, Administrator Marion Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2015-04-27
Citations: 599 F. App'x 529
Docket Number: No. 14-7506
Parties: Breyon D. MIDDLEBROOKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Duane TERRELL, Administrator Marion Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before SHEDD, DUNCAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. ,
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 599
Pages: 529–530

Head Matter:
Breyon D. MIDDLEBROOKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Duane TERRELL, Administrator Marion Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 14-7506.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: April 23, 2015.
Decided: April 27, 2015.
Milton Gordon Widenhouse, Jr., Rudolf, Widenhouse & Fialko, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Appellant. Clarence Joe Del-Forge, III, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Ap-pellee.
Before SHEDD, DUNCAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. ,

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Breyon D. Middlebrooks seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of ap-pealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2258(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. 478, 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 Middlebrooks 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.