UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 20-7127

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

PEDRO OSCAR DIEGUEZ, a/k/a The Cuban,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Frank D. Whitney, District Judge. (3:13-cr-00020-FDW-DSC-1; 3:17-cv-00502-FDW)

Submitted: December 22, 2020 Decided: January 4, 2021

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

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Pedro Oscar Dieguez, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Pedro Oscar Dieguez seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his

motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge

issues a certificate of appealability. See

(c)(1)(B). A certificate of

appealability will not issue absent “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional

right.”

(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,

(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,

(2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel,

(2000)).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Dieguez 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

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