Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Curtis Lavon BRANCH, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2015-03-20
Citations: 598 F. App'x 851
Docket Number: No. 15-6097
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Curtis Lavon BRANCH, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before WILKINSON and KING, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. .
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 598
Pages: 851–852

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Curtis Lavon BRANCH, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 15-6097.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: March 17, 2015.
Decided: March 20, 2015.
Curtis Lavon Branch, Appellant Pro Se. Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant United States Attorney, Felice McConnell Cor-pening, Seth Morgan Wood, Office of the United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Before WILKINSON and KING, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. .

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
.Curtis Lavon Branch seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appeal-able unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). 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) (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 motion 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 Branch 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.