Bunch v. Johnson , 405 F. App'x 774 ( 2010 )


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  •                              UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 10-6733
    LORENZO BUNCH, JR.,
    Petitioner - Appellant,
    v.
    GENE M. JOHNSON,      Director   of   the   Virginia   Department   of
    Corrections,
    Respondent - Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Jerome B. Friedman, District
    Judge. (2:09-cv-00395-JBF-DEM)
    Submitted:   December 16, 2010              Decided:    December 27, 2010
    Before GREGORY, DUNCAN, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Lorenzo Bunch, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Eugene Paul Murphy, OFFICE
    OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for
    Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Lorenzo     Bunch,      Jr.,        seeks       to    appeal         the     district
    court’s    order     accepting        the    recommendation              of    the       magistrate
    judge    and     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.                   
    28 U.S.C. § 2253
    (c)(1) (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       Bunch   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
    2
    before   the   court   and   argument   would   not   aid   the   decisional
    process.
    DISMISSED
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 10-6733

Citation Numbers: 405 F. App'x 774

Judges: Gregory, Duncan, Davis

Filed Date: 12/27/2010

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/5/2024