United States v. Muneeb Akhter ( 2021 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-7278
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
MUNEEB AKHTER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. T.S. Ellis, III, Senior District Judge. (1:15-cr-00124-TSE-1)
Submitted: June 1, 2021 Decided: June 14, 2021
Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Muneeb Akhter, Appellant Pro Se. Joseph Attias, Assistant United States Attorney,
Richmond, Virginia, Rachael Claire Tucker, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Muneeb Akhter seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255 motion as successive and unauthorized. The order is not appealable unless a circuit
justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B). 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, as here, the district court denies relief
on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural
ruling is debatable and that the motion 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 Akhter 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