Court Opinion

ID: 9893407
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-26 21:00:48.459882+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:15.482803
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7403      Doc: 14         Filed: 10/25/2023    Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 22-7403

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                            Plaintiff - Appellee,

                     v.

        ERNEST DWAYNE RILEY, a/k/a Simba Johnson,

                            Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
        Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, Senior District Judge. (2:19-cr-00124-RAJ-RJK-1; 2:20-
        cv-00418-RAJ-RJK)

        Submitted: October 2, 2023                                    Decided: October 25, 2023

        Before WILKINSON and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
        Judge.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Ernest Dwayne Riley, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 22-7403         Doc: 14      Filed: 10/25/2023     Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Ernest Dwayne Riley seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his

        28 U.S.C. § 2255 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). 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).

               We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Riley 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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