UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 19-6647

DONNIEL WOODS, Petitioner - Appellant, v. AARON JOYNER, Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Beaufort.

Terry L. Wooten, Senior District Judge. (9:17-cv-03336-TLW)

Submitted: August 30, 2019 Decided: September 13, 2019

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and KEENAN and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Donniel Woods, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM: Donniel Woods seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge, dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition and denying his motion to reconsider. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (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 petition 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 Woods 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