UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-6823

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

LAFAYETTE N. DOTSON, JR., a/k/a La La Bubbles,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Robert E. Payne, Senior District Judge. (1:97-cr-00332-REP-RCY-3; 1:20- cv-00188-REP-RCY)

Submitted: November 23, 2021 Decided: November 30, 2021

Before NIEMEYER, FLOYD, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Lafayette N. Dotson, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Tony Ray Roberts, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Lafayette N. Dotson, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing as

untimely his

motion. See Whiteside v. United States,

, 182-

83 (4th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (explaining that § 2255 motions are subject to one-year statute

of limitations, running from latest of four commencement dates enumerated in

(f)). The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate

of appealability.

(c)(1)(B). A certificate of appealability will not issue

absent “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”

(c)(2). When, as here, 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 Dotson 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

2