Court Opinion

ID: 1021750
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 23:11:45.206258+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:13:09.013398
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 06-7546

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                               Plaintiff - Appellee,

          versus

BERNARD GIBSON, SR.,

                                            Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt. Peter J. Messitte, District Judge. (8:94-
cr-00454; 8:05-cv-01437-PJM)

Submitted:   February 7, 2007          Decided:     February 16, 2007

Before WILLIAMS, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Bernard Gibson, Sr., Appellant Pro Se. Sandra Wilkinson, Assistant
United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

           Bernard Gibson, Sr., seeks to appeal the district court’s

order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) motion and the

order construing his motion for reconsideration as a successive

§ 2255 motion and dismissing it for lack of jurisdiction.                The

orders are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues

a certificate of appealability.      28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2000).        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)   (2000).   A   prisoner   satisfies    this   standard    by

demonstrating    that   reasonable   jurists   would     find   that     any

assessment of the constitutional claims by the district court is

debatable or wrong and that any dispositive procedural ruling by

the district court is likewise debatable.      Miller-El v. Cockrell,

537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003); Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484

(2000); Rose v. Lee, 252 F.3d 676, 683-84 (4th Cir. 2001).        We have

independently reviewed the record and conclude that Gibson has not

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

for 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 the court and

argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                DISMISSED

                                 - 2 -