Court Opinion

ID: 4397700
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2019-05-16 19:00:17.31133+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:33:48.964009
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 18-7161

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                    Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

EUGENE R. LEWANDOWSKI,

                    Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt.
Deborah K. Chasanow, Senior District Judge. (8:14-cr-00082-DKC-1; 8:16-cv-03421-
DKC)

Submitted: May 2, 2019                                            Decided: May 16, 2019

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and HARRIS and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Eugene R. Lewandowski, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Eugene R. Lewandowski seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief

on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit

justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (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 (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 Lewandowski has

not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Lewandowski’s motion for 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

                                             2