Opinion

United States v. Walter Brown

  • 585 F. App'x 123
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Filed
Nov 21, 2014
Status
Unpublished
On the bench
Wilkinson, Duncan, Thacker
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 33.6%

The opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-7039

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

WALTER TERION BROWN, a/k/a Boo-Boo,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern

District of North Carolina, at Greenville. James C. Dever, III,

Chief District Judge. (4:12-cr-00104-D-1; 4:13-cv-00202-D)

Submitted: November 18, 2014 Decided: November 21, 2014

Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Walter Terion Brown, Appellant Pro Se. Jennifer P. May-Parker,

Assistant United States Attorney, Seth Morgan Wood, OFFICE OF

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for

Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Walter Terion Brown 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 Brown 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

2

contentions are adequately presented in the materials before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

3

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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