624 F. App'x 129

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Oshawn Louis COPELAND, a/k/a Lou, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 15-7458.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Submitted: Dec. 15, 2015.

Decided: Dec. 18, 2015.

Oshawn Louis Copeland, Appellant Pro Se. Tobin Webb Lathan, Seth Morgan Wood, Office of the United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Before GREGORY and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.

Unpublished opinions are'not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Oshawn Louis Copeland seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appeal-able unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). A certificate of ap-pealability 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, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (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, 120 S.Ct. 1595.

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Copeland 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.

United States v. Copeland
624 F. App'x 129

Case Details

Name
United States v. Copeland
Decision Date
Dec 18, 2015
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624 F. App'x 129

Jurisdiction
United States

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