Court Opinion

ID: 9405272
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-27 21:00:56.165281+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:20.550276
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7038      Doc: 12         Filed: 06/26/2023     Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 22-7038

        LAWRENCE VERLINE WILDER,

                             Petitioner - Appellant,

                      v.

        NEW HANOVER COUNTY SUPERIOR AND DISTRICT COURT; MAJOR D.
        H. PRICE, Administrator NHC Jail; SECRETARY OF NORTH CAROLINA
        DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY,

                             Respondents - Appellees.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
        Raleigh. Richard E. Myers II, Chief District Judge. (5:22-hc-02001-M)

        Submitted: June 22, 2023                                          Decided: June 26, 2023

        Before HARRIS and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Lawrence Verline Wilder, Sr., Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 22-7038         Doc: 12        Filed: 06/26/2023      Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Lawrence Verline Wilder seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28

        U.S.C. § 2254 petition without prejudice for failure to exhaust state court remedies. 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 Wilder 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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