Court Opinion

ID: 4292866
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2018-07-10 19:00:31.551954+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:52:02.030815
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 17-7456

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                    Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

OMAR FABIAN VALDES GUALTERO, a/k/a Gordo,

                    Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:13-cr-00310-LO-2; 1:16-cv-01382-
GBL)

Submitted: June 28, 2018                                          Decided: July 10, 2018

Before DUNCAN and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and SHEDD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Omar Fabian Valdes Gualtero, Appellant Pro Se. Stacey Kyle Luck, Special Counsel,
Criminal Division/Human Rights & Special Prosecutions, UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Omar Fabian Valdes Gualtero seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying

relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. 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 claim 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 Gualtero has not

made the requisite showing.        Accordingly, we deny Gualtero’s motion for the

appointment of counsel, 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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