Court Opinion

ID: 4438178
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2019-09-13 19:00:26.38438+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:58:59.019266
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                        UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                            FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                       No. 19-6647

DONNIEL WOODS,

                     Petitioner - Appellant,

              v.

AARON JOYNER,

                     Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Beaufort.
Terry L. Wooten, Senior District Judge. (9:17-cv-03336-TLW)

Submitted: August 30, 2019                                   Decided: September 13, 2019

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and KEENAN and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Donniel Woods, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Donniel Woods seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the

recommendation of the magistrate judge, dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition

and denying his motion to reconsider. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice

or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (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 petition 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 Woods 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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