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Lail v. Hooks

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Jul 27, 2020
No. 19-7656 (4th Cir. Jul. 27, 2020)

Opinion

No. 19-7656

07-27-2020

AVERY J. LAIL, JR., Petitioner - Appellant, v. ERIK A. HOOKS, Respondent - Appellee.

Avery J. Lail, Jr., Appellant Pro Se.


UNPUBLISHED

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Frank D. Whitney, District Judge. (3:18-cv-00518-FDW) Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Avery J. Lail, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:

Avery J. Lail, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2018) 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) (2018). 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) (2018). 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 Lail 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


Summaries of

Lail v. Hooks

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Jul 27, 2020
No. 19-7656 (4th Cir. Jul. 27, 2020)
Case details for

Lail v. Hooks

Case Details

Full title:AVERY J. LAIL, JR., Petitioner - Appellant, v. ERIK A. HOOKS, Respondent …

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Jul 27, 2020

Citations

No. 19-7656 (4th Cir. Jul. 27, 2020)