Court Opinion

ID: 4291741
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2018-07-05 19:00:27.712005+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:52:38.029831
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                       No. 18-6142

BOBBY RAY GRADY,

                     Petitioner - Appellant,

              v.

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY,

                     Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:16-hc-02100-FL)

Submitted: June 22, 2018                                            Decided: July 5, 2018

Before NIEMEYER, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Bobby Ray Grady, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Bobby Ray Grady seeks to appeal the district court’s orders denying his Rule

59(e) motions in his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) proceeding. The orders are not appealable

unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 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 Grady has not made

the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss

the appeal. We deny Grady’s motions to incorporate documents and for a transcript as

moot. We further deny Grady’s motion to inspect the record. 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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