Court Opinion

ID: 4501398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2020-01-24 20:00:26.071006+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:54:18.899580
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 19-7380

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                    Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

MARCUS DEWAYNE JONES, a/k/a LB, a/k/a Pounds, a/k/a Marcus Dwayne
Jones,

                    Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
Columbia. Cameron McGowan Currie, Senior District Judge. (3:10-cr-00524-CMC-1)

Submitted: January 21, 2020                                       Decided: January 24, 2020

Before WILKINSON, KEENAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Marcus Dewayne Jones, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Marcus Dewayne Jones seeks to appeal the district court’s order construing his self-

styled “Motion to Revise 2-Level Enhancement Obstruction of Justice Pursuant to 448 B.R.
420 In re L March 30, 2011” as a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2018) motion and

dismissing it as unauthorized. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge

issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2018). 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) (2018). 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 Jones 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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