From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

United States v. Pennix

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Sep 29, 2020
No. 20-6888 (4th Cir. Sep. 29, 2020)

Opinion

No. 20-6888

09-29-2020

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. EDWIN MAURICE PENNIX, Defendant - Appellant.

Edwin Maurice Pennix, Appellant Pro Se.


UNPUBLISHED

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles, District Judge. (1:16-cr-00074-CCE-1; 1:17-cv-00186-CCE-LPA) Before HARRIS and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Edwin Maurice Pennix, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:

Edwin Maurice Pennix seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on Pennix's 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B). 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 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 motion 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 Pennix 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

United States v. Pennix

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Sep 29, 2020
No. 20-6888 (4th Cir. Sep. 29, 2020)
Case details for

United States v. Pennix

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. EDWIN MAURICE PENNIX…

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Sep 29, 2020

Citations

No. 20-6888 (4th Cir. Sep. 29, 2020)