United States v. Tyrone Allen

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

United States v. Tyrone Allen

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 19-6775

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

TYRONE ALLEN,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Terry L. Wooten, Senior District Judge. (4:02-cr-00750-TLW-1; 4:16-cv-01870-TLW)

Submitted: September 10, 2019 Decided: January 23, 2020

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, DIAZ, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Tyrone Allen, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Tyrone Allen 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. See

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. 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. Slack v. McDaniel,

529 U.S. 473, 484

(2000).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Allen 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

* After the district court entered its judgment, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Davis,

139 S. Ct. 2319

(2019). In Davis, the Supreme Court held that the residual clause of the definition of crime of violence in

18 U.S.C. § 924

(c)(3)(B) (2012) is unconstitutionally vague. Davis,

139 S. Ct. at 2336

; accord United States v. Simms,

914 F.3d 229, 232

(4th Cir. 2019) (en banc), petition for cert. docketed,

87 U.S.L.W. 3427

(U.S. Apr. 24, 2019) (No. 18-1338). However, we recently held that Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence under the force clause in

18 U.S.C. § 924

(c)(3)(A), which remains intact after Davis. See United States v. Mathis,

932 F.3d 242, 266

(4th Cir. 2019).

2 adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

DISMISSED

3

Reference

Status
Unpublished