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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-6107 LAMONT A. WOODS, Petitioner - Appellant, v. HAROLD W. CLARKE, Director, VDOC, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. Glen E. Conrad, Senior District Judge. (7:18-cv-00385-GEC-PMS) Submitted: August 20, 2020 Decided: August 25, 2020 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, WYNN, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Lamont A. Woods, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Lamont A. Woods seeks to appeal the district court’s orders denying relief on his
28 U.S.C. § 2254petition and his subsequent motions to amend his petition and to alter or amend the judgment. The orders are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists could find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis,
137 S. Ct. 759, 773-74 (2017). 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. Gonzalez v. Thaler,
565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel,
529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)). We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Woods 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 2
Document Info
Docket Number: 20-6107
Filed Date: 8/25/2020
Precedential Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 9/22/2020