Court Opinion

ID: 4166592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2017-05-05 19:05:16.435227+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:46:57.219343
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 16-6921

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                    Plaintiff - Appellee,

             v.

EUGENE ASOMANI WILLIAMS,

                    Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:13-cr-00464-LMB-1; 1:15-cv-
01372-LMB)

Submitted: April 25, 2017                                         Decided: May 5, 2017

Before MOTZ, DUNCAN, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Eugene Asomani Williams, Appellant Pro Se. Marc Birnbaum, Special Assistant United
States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia; Julia K. Martinez, Rachel Elaine Nonaka, OFFICE
OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

       Eugene Asomani Williams 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 Williams has not

made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and

dismiss the appeal. We deny as moot Williams’ motion to place the appeal in abeyance

pending a decision in Beckles v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 886 (2017), and deny Williams’

motions for appointment of counsel and to supplement the opening informal brief. 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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