Opinion
24-6367
08-27-2024
DWAYNE L. JOHNSON, Petitioner - Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, Respondent - Appellee
Dwayne L. Johnson, Appellant Pro Se.
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: August 22, 2024.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk (2:23-cv-00553-MSD-DEM), Mark S. Davis, Chief District Judge.
Dwayne L. Johnson, Appellant Pro Se.
Before WILKINSON, WYNN, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Dwayne Johnson seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and dismissing Johnson's 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition 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)(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 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 Johnson 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