Court Opinion

ID: 9375216
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-25 21:00:28.359338+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:56.876061
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7466      Doc: 10         Filed: 02/24/2023    Pg: 1 of 3

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 22-7466

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                            Plaintiff - Appellee,

                     v.

        EDWARD MCCAIN,

                            Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
        Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge. (2:09-cr-00296-DCN-2)

        Submitted: February 21, 2023                                 Decided: February 24, 2023

        Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Edward McCain, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

               Edward McCain appeals the district court’s order denying his self-styled motion for

        release pending appeal filed in his pending 28 U.S.C. § 2255 proceeding that we treat as a

        motion for release on bail pending adjudication of his § 2255 motion.

               We may exercise jurisdiction only over final orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and certain

        interlocutory and collateral orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1292; Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b); Cohen v.

        Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-47 (1949). We conclude that the district

        court’s order is an appealable collateral order. See, e.g., Pagan v. United States, 353 F.3d

        1343, 1345-46 & n.4 (11th Cir. 2003) (adopting rule and collecting cases).

               A prisoner, however, still may not appeal a final order in a § 2255 proceeding unless

        a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability.           See 28 U.S.C.

        § 2253(c)(1)(B).   We conclude that this requirement applies, as well, to appealable

        collateral orders in post-conviction proceedings subject to the certificate of appealability

        requirement. See Jones v. Braxton, 392 F.3d 683, 686 (4th Cir. 2004); see also Pagan,

        353 F.3d at 1346. 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). When the district court

        denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that

        reasonable jurists could find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims

        debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S. 100, 115-17 (2017). 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

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        the denial of a constitutional right. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing

        Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

               We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that McCain has not made

        the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny McCain’s motion for judicial notice, 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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