Case Name: Timothy Wayne WILBANKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William R. BYARS, Dir SCDC; Ricky Chastain, Sheriff Laurens Co, Respondents-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2013-03-01
Citations: 512 F. App'x 379
Docket Number: No. 12-8153
Parties: Timothy Wayne WILBANKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William R. BYARS, Dir SCDC; Ricky Chastain, Sheriff Laurens Co, Respondents-Appellees.
Judges: Before MOTZ, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 512
Pages: 379–380

Head Matter:
Timothy Wayne WILBANKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William R. BYARS, Dir SCDC; Ricky Chastain, Sheriff Laurens Co, Respondents-Appellees.
No. 12-8153.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Feb. 26, 2013.
Decided: March 1, 2013.
Timothy Wayne Wilbanks, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Brendan McDonald, Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina; Russell W. Harter, Jr., Chapman, Harter & Harter, PA, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellees.
Before MOTZ, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Timothy Wayne Wilbanks seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) 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) (2006). 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) (2006). 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 Wilbanks has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, 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.