Opinion
No. 13-7812
08-04-2014
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. HENRY ZELAYA, a/k/a Homeboy, a/k/a Jose Manuel Alvarado, Defendant - Appellant.
Henry Zelaya, Appellant Pro Se. Laura Jean Gwinn, John Alexander Romano, Michael Stephen Warbel, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; William Moomau, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, James Marton Trusty, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland; Marianne Shelvey, Assistant United States Attorney, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellee.
UNPUBLISHED Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Deborah K. Chasanow, Chief District Judge. (8:05-cr-00393-DKC-19; 8:10-cv-02509-DKC) Before SHEDD and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Henry Zelaya, Appellant Pro Se. Laura Jean Gwinn, John Alexander Romano, Michael Stephen Warbel, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; William Moomau, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, James Marton Trusty, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland; Marianne Shelvey, Assistant United States Attorney, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Henry Zelaya seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). 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) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003). 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. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Zelaya 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