Court Opinion

ID: 2793261
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-04-13 19:00:51.584789+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:13:58.160612
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                  UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                      FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 14-7552

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                Plaintiff – Appellee,

          v.

BENJAMIN C. THOMPKINS, JR., a/k/a Benjamin Thompkins, a/k/a
Benjie,

                Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.     Robert E. Payne, Senior
District Judge. (3:08-cr-00339-REP-1; 3:11-cv-00303-REP)

Submitted:   February 23, 2015              Decided:     April 13, 2015

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

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Benjamin   C.  Thompkins,  Jr.,  Appellant Pro   Se.    Angela
Mastandrea-Miller, Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Benjamin C. Thompkins, Jr., 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

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

Thompkins has not made the requisite showing.                           Accordingly, we

deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, deny a certificate of

appealability and dismiss the appeal.                       We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

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presented in the materials before this court and argument would

not aid the decisional process.

                                                      DISMISSED

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