Opinion
No. 14-6435
09-29-2014
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOSEPH MICHAEL GUARASCIO, Defendant - Appellant.
William Mallory Kent, LAW OFFICE OF WILLIAM MALLORY KENT, Jacksonville, Florida; Edwin L. West, III, BROOKS, PIERCE, MCLENDON, HUMPHREY & LEONARD, LLP, Wilmington, North Carolina, for Appellant. Ethan A. Ontjes, Assistant United States Attorney, Shailika K. Shah, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
UNPUBLISHED Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Dever, III, Chief District Judge. (7:09-cr-00109-D-1; 7:11-cv-00044-D) Before WILKINSON and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. William Mallory Kent, LAW OFFICE OF WILLIAM MALLORY KENT, Jacksonville, Florida; Edwin L. West, III, BROOKS, PIERCE, MCLENDON, HUMPHREY & LEONARD, LLP, Wilmington, North Carolina, for Appellant. Ethan A. Ontjes, Assistant United States Attorney, Shailika K. Shah, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Joseph Michael Guarascio seeks to appeal the district court's orders rejecting the three grounds for the ineffective assistance of claim Guarascio raised in his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The orders are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (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 motion 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 Guarascio 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