Court Opinion

ID: 9390151
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-26 21:01:19.813035+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:31.811468
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7408      Doc: 10         Filed: 04/25/2023    Pg: 1 of 3

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 22-7408

        RAAJ RAFA EL, a/k/a Roger Moore, a/k/a Raaj Rafael,

                            Petitioner - Appellant,

                     v.

        WARDEN FREDERICK T. ABELTO; MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL,

                            Respondents - Appellees.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
        Julie R. Rubin, District Judge. (1:22-cv-01948-JRR)

        Submitted: April 20, 2023                                         Decided: April 25, 2023

        Before KING and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Raaj Rafa El, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

               Raaj Rafa El seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C.

        § 2254 petition without prejudice for failure to exhaust state court remedies. * The order is

        not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28

        U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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 petition states a debatable claim of

        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 Rafa El 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

               *
                  Although Rafa El noted his appeal after the expiration of the 30-day appeal period
        in Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), we conclude that we have jurisdiction over his appeal
        because the district court’s order explaining its reasons for dismissal was not accompanied
        by a separate document setting forth the court’s judgment, as required by Fed. R. Civ. P.
        58(a). See Hughes v. Halifax Cty. Sch. Bd., 823 F.2d 832, 835 (4th Cir. 1987). Thus, the
        district court’s order was deemed entered, for purposes of Rule 4(a), 150 days after the date
        of entry on the docket. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(c)(2)(B); Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(A)(ii).

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        adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the

        decisional process.

                                                                                 DISMISSED

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