Court Opinion

ID: 1028416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-05 07:40:13.295028+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:29:44.673019
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                        FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                               No. 08-7733

RONALD CLUTTER,

                  Petitioner - Appellant,

             v.

DAVID BALLARD,

                  Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Beckley.    Thomas E. Johnston,
District Judge. (5:07-cv-00710)

Submitted:    March 20, 2009                 Decided:   April 2, 2009

Before TRAXLER, GREGORY, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Ronald Clutter, Appellant Pro Se.            R.   Christopher   Smith,
Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

           Ronald Clutter 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) (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).        A    prisoner      satisfies      this

standard   by    demonstrating           that   reasonable      jurists     would    find

that any assessment of the constitutional claims by the district

court is debatable or wrong and that any dispositive procedural

ruling by the district court is likewise debatable.                            Miller-

El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003); Slack v. McDaniel,

529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); Rose v. Lee, 252 F.3d 676, 683-84 (4th

Cir.   2001).         We    have   independently        reviewed      the   record   and

conclude      that    Clutter      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   the    court       and    argument     would    not    aid   the   decisional

process.

                                                                             DISMISSED

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