Court Opinion

ID: 9911423
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-19 21:00:32.306748+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:58:01.968358
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-6274      Doc: 17         Filed: 12/18/2023     Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 23-6274

        YASSER ABDELHAQ,

                             Petitioner - Appellant,

                      v.

        DONALD F. AMES, Superintendent,

                             Respondent - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at
        Martinsburg. Gina M. Groh, District Judge. (3:21-cv-00145-GMG)

        Submitted: December 4, 2023                                 Decided: December 18, 2023

        Before NIEMEYER, GREGORY, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Yasser AbdelHaq, Appellant Pro Se. Lindsay Sara See, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY
        GENERAL, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 23-6274         Doc: 17       Filed: 12/18/2023     Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Yasser AbdelHaq seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his 28

        U.S.C. § 2254 petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues

        a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies

        this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists could find the district court’s

        assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S.

        100, 115-17 (2017). 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. Gonzalez v.

        Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

               We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that AbdelHaq 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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