Court Opinion

ID: 813061
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2012-12-04 20:23:00+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:36:00.483698
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                  UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                      FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 12-6099

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                Plaintiff - Appellee,

          v.

LUIS HERNANDEZ-ESPINOZA, a/k/a Raphael Lopez, a/k/a Rafael
Lopez,

                Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Dever III,
Chief District Judge. (7:09-cr-00112-D-1; 7:11-cv-00125-D)

Submitted:   November 30, 2012            Decided:   December 4, 2012

Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Luis Hernandez-Espinoza, Appellant Pro Se. William Ellis Boyle,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

            Luis Hernandez-Espinoza seeks to appeal the district

court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West

Supp.    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)         (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    Hernandez-Espinoza       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   this   court   and   argument   would   not   aid   the   decisional

process.

                                                                    DISMISSED

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