Case Name: John Anthony MATTHEWS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ROBERT KOPPEL, Warden, Jessup Correctional Institution; Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2010-05-25
Citations: 379 F. App'x 304
Docket Number: No. 09-8119
Parties: John Anthony MATTHEWS, Petitioner—Appellant, v. ROBERT KOPPEL, Warden, Jessup Correctional Institution; Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents—Appellees.
Judges: Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 379
Pages: 304–305

Head Matter:
John Anthony MATTHEWS, Petitioner—Appellant, v. ROBERT KOPPEL, Warden, Jessup Correctional Institution; Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents—Appellees.
No. 09-8119.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: May 20, 2010.
Decided: May 25, 2010.
Gary Eugene Bail*, Bennett & Bair, LLC, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Edward John Kelley, Office of The Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.
Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
John Anthony Matthews seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certifícate of ap-pealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2258(c)(1) (2006). A certificate of appealability will not issue absent "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2258(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 Matthews has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Matthews's motion for a certificate of ap-pealability and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED.