Court Opinion

ID: 4434617
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2019-08-29 19:00:32.238132+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:03:33.390172
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                       No. 19-6504

MICHAEL S. OWL FEATHER-GORBEY,

                    Petitioner - Appellant,

             v.

STATE OF MARYLAND,

                    Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Richard D. Bennett, District Judge. (1:19-cv-00788-RDB)

Submitted: August 2, 2019                                         Decided: August 29, 2019

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, KEENAN, Circuit Judge, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Michael S. Gorbey, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Michael S. Owl Feather-Gorbey seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing

his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) habeas petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit

justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (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 petition 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 Owl Feather-Gorbey

has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, although we grant Owl Feather-Gorbey

leave to proceed in forma pauperis, 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 this court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

                                                                                DISMISSED

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