Opinion
24-6254
08-02-2024
MICHAEL ROY FULLER, Petitioner - Appellant, v. CHADWICK DOTSON, Director, Respondent - Appellee.
David Bernard Hargett, HARGETT LAW, PLC, Glen Allen, Virginia, for Appellant.
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: July 30, 2024
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. M. Hannah Lauck, District Judge. (3:23-cv-00256-MHL)
David Bernard Hargett, HARGETT LAW, PLC, Glen Allen, Virginia, for Appellant.
Before NIEMEYER, AGEE, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Michael Roy Fuller seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 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). 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 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, 580 U.S. 100, 115-17 (2017).
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Fuller 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.