Opinion
No. 20-7158
11-03-2020
DARRIS ALTONY NEWSOME, Petitioner - Appellant, v. HAROLD CLARKE, Respondent - Appellee.
Darris Altony Newsome, Appellant Pro Se.
UNPUBLISHED
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Liam O'Grady, Senior District Judge. (1:20-cv-00781-LO-JFA) Before NIEMEYER, HARRIS, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Darris Altony Newsome, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Darris Altony Newsome seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition without prejudice as unauthorized and successive. 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 Newsome has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Newsome's motion for a certificate of appealability, deny his motion for an evidentiary hearing, 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