Domenico Lockhart v. Nora Hunt , 624 F. App'x 830 ( 2015 )


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  •                              UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 15-7649
    DOMENICO A. LOCKHART,
    Petitioner - Appellant,
    v.
    NORA HUNT,
    Respondent - Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
    District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
    District Judge. (1:15-cv-00266-CCE-JEP)
    Submitted:   December 15, 2015             Decided:    December 18, 2015
    Before GREGORY    and   FLOYD,   Circuit   Judges,    and   DAVIS,   Senior
    Circuit Judge.
    Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Domenico A. Lockhart, Appellant Pro Se. Clarence Joe DelForge,
    III, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Raleigh, North
    Carolina, for Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Domenico A. Lockhart seeks to appeal the district court’s
    order denying relief on his 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     (2012) petition.
    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) (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 petition 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
    Lockhart has not made the requisite showing.                          Accordingly, we
    deny Lockhart’s motion for a certificate of appealability and
    dismiss the appeal.          We dispense with oral argument because the
    facts    and    legal     contentions      are   adequately      presented      in    the
    2
    materials   before   this   court   and   argument   would   not    aid   the
    decisional process.
    DISMISSED
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 15-7649

Citation Numbers: 624 F. App'x 830

Judges: Gregory, Floyd, Davis

Filed Date: 12/18/2015

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024