Case Name: Maurice GRAVES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael McCALL, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2015-10-19
Citations: 620 F. App'x 164
Docket Number: No. 15-6868
Parties: Maurice GRAVES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael McCALL, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 620
Pages: 164–165

Head Matter:
Maurice GRAVES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael McCALL, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 15-6868.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Oct. 15, 2015.
Decided: Oct. 19, 2015.
Maurice Graves, Appellant Pro Se. Alphonso Simon Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Maurice Graves seeks to appeal the district court's. orders accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge, dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition, and denying his motion for reconsideration. The orders are not ap-pealable 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 Graves 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.