Court Opinion

ID: 4191591
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2017-08-01 19:01:25.824309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:46.591802
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 17-6689

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

             Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

DONTE BERNARD BAKER, a/k/a Tay, a/k/a Donnie,

             Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
James K. Bredar, District Judge. (1:11-cr-00426-JKB-1; 1:17-cv-00147-JKB)

Submitted: July 27, 2017                                          Decided: August 1, 2017

Before AGEE and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Donte Bernard Baker, Appellant Pro Se. Debra Lynn Dwyer, Joshua Thomas Ferrentino,
Robert Reeves Harding, Assistant United States Attorneys, Baltimore, Maryland;
Anthony Joseph Enright, Assistant United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Donte Bernard Baker seeks to appeal the district court’s orders dismissing his 28

U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion as successive and denying reconsideration. The order is not

appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 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 Baker 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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