Court Opinion

ID: 9962860
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-23 21:01:05.174839+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:19:55.291220
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-7189      Doc: 10         Filed: 04/22/2024     Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 23-7189

        ELIJAH E. PACHECO,

                             Petitioner - Appellant,

                      v.

        HEATHER WARREN, Magistrate,

                             Respondent - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at
        Statesville. Martin K. Reidinger, Chief District Judge. (5:23-cv-00153-MR)

        Submitted: April 18, 2024                                         Decided: April 22, 2024

        Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Elijah E. Pacheco, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 23-7189      Doc: 10          Filed: 04/22/2024      Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Elijah E. Pacheco, a state pretrial detainee, seeks to appeal the district court’s order

        dismissing without prejudice his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition. The order is not appealable

        unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability.           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 Pacheco has not

        made the requisite showing. Pacheco does not challenge on appeal the district court’s

        dispositive determination that he failed to exhaust state remedies, and we find that Pacheco

        has not engaged in one complete round of North Carolina’s appellate review process.

        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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