Court Opinion

ID: 217778
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2011-05-31 18:28:19+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:28:34.008257
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                  UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                      FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 11-6018

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                Plaintiff - Appellee,

          v.

WILLIAM A. MCDOWELL,

                Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.     Frank D. Whitney,
District Judge. (3:07-cr-00173-FDW-2; 3:10-cv-00582-FDW)

Submitted:   May 26, 2011                  Decided:   May 31, 2011

Before KING, SHEDD, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

William A. McDowell, Appellant Pro Se.       Amy Elizabeth Ray,
Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

            William      A.     McDowell         seeks    to    appeal     the     district

court’s order 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)(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 McDowell 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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