United States v. Joseph Beilharz

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States v. Joseph Beilharz, 496 F. App'x 334 (4th Cir. 2012)

United States v. Joseph Beilharz

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-7254

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

JOSEPH R. BEILHARZ,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:09-cr-00105-LMB-1; 1:11-cv-01222-LMB)

Submitted: November 13, 2012 Decided: November 15, 2012

Before NIEMEYER, GREGORY, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Joseph R. Beilharz, Appellant Pro Se. Timothy D. Belevetz, Assistant United States Attorney, Kealin M. Culbreath, Vikram Jagadish, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:

Joseph R. Beilharz seeks to appeal the district

court’s order denying relief on his

28 U.S.C.A. § 2255

(West

Supp. 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) (2006). 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)

(2006). 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 Beilharz 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 the

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

3

Reference

Status
Unpublished