Mark Barnes v. Harold Clarke , 596 F. App'x 243 ( 2015 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-7166
MARK ANTHONY BARNES,
Petitioner – Appellant,
v.
HAROLD W. CLARKE,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema,
District Judge. (1:14-cv-00420-LMB-TCB)
Submitted: January 29, 2015 Decided: March 9, 2015
Before NIEMEYER, SHEDD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Mark Anthony Barnes, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Mark Anthony Barnes seeks to appeal the district
court’s order dismissing without prejudice his petition for a
writ of habeas corpus. This order is not appealable unless a
circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability.
See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certificate of
appealability will not issue absent “a substantial showing of
the denial of a constitutional right.” Id. § 2253(c)(2). When
a district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner
satisfies this standard by demonstrating “that reasonable
jurists would find the district court’s assessment of the
constitutional claims debatable or wrong.” Slack v. McDaniel,
529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). When a district court denies relief
on procedural grounds, a prisoner must demonstrate that the
dispositive procedural ruling is debatable and that the petition
states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional
right. Id. at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude
that Barnes has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we
deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, deny a certificate of
appealability, and dismiss the appeal. We deny Barnes’s “motion
to excuse time bar” and dispense with oral argument because the
facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
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materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED
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