Case Name: Sylvester SINGLETARY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Joseph McFADDEN, Lieber Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2014-08-20
Citations: 581 F. App'x 298
Docket Number: No. 14-6499
Parties: Sylvester SINGLETARY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Joseph McFADDEN, Lieber Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 581
Pages: 298–298

Head Matter:
Sylvester SINGLETARY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Joseph McFADDEN, Lieber Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 14-6499.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Aug. 12, 2014.
Decided: Aug. 20, 2014.
Sylvester Singletary, Appellant Pro Se. James Anthony Mabry, Assistant Attorney General, Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before SHEDD, AGEE, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Sylvester Singletary seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge as modified and denying relief on his 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 Singletary has not made the required showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny the motion to appoint counsel, 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.