Court Opinion

ID: 4305794
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2018-08-21 19:00:23.634513+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:28.285409
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 18-6282

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                    Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

TERRY JACKSON BENNETT,

                    Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina,
at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., District Judge. (3:93-cr-00254-RJC-1; 3:16-cv-
00520-RJC)

Submitted: July 19, 2018                                          Decided: August 21, 2018

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and KING and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Terry Jackson Bennett, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Terry Jackson Bennett seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28

U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge

issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (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 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 Bennett 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 this court, and argument

would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                DISMISSED

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