Timothy Wilson v. Commonwealth of Virginia , 547 F. App'x 247 ( 2013 )


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  •                             UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 13-7738
    TIMOTHY M. WILSON,
    Petitioner - Appellant,
    v.
    COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,
    Respondent - Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of Virginia, at Richmond.  Henry E. Hudson, District
    Judge. (3:13-cv-00188-HEH)
    Submitted:   December 17, 2013            Decided:   December 20, 2013
    Before KING, GREGORY, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Timothy M. Wilson, Appellant Pro Se.       Susan Mozley Harris,
    Assistant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Timothy M. Wilson seeks to appeal the district court’s
    order denying relief on his 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     (2006) 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) (2006).          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) (2006).                 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 Wilson has not made the requisite showing.                       Accordingly, we
    deny    Wilson’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: 19-4761

Citation Numbers: 547 F. App'x 247

Judges: King, Duncan, Diaz

Filed Date: 12/20/2013

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024