Court Opinion

ID: 205935
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2011-03-03 19:37:17+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:19.104555
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 10-7427

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                Plaintiff - Appellee,

          v.

TERRY L. PORTER,

                Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Huntington.   Robert C. Chambers,
District Judge. (3:05-cr-00208-1; 3:07-cv-00037)

Submitted:   February 24, 2011             Decided:   March 3, 2011

Before GREGORY, SHEDD, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Terry L. Porter, Appellant Pro Se.       Richard Gregory McVey,
Assistant United States Attorney, Huntington, West Virginia, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

            Terry L. Porter seeks to appeal the district court’s

order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and

denying    relief        on    his    28   U.S.C.A.        §    2255    (West   Supp.    2010)

motion.    The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or

judge     issues     a        certificate       of    appealability.             28     U.S.C.

§ 2253(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. § 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    (2000);     see    Miller-El        v.   Cockrell,         537    U.S.   322,    336-38

(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.              We have independently reviewed the record

and conclude that Porter 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

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before   the   court   and   argument   would   not   aid   the   decisional

process.

                                                                   DISMISSED

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