USCA4 Appeal: 22-6987 Doc: 8 Filed: 12/20/2022 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-6987

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

DENT HALL TURNER,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Frank D. Whitney, District Judge. (3:19-cr-00221-FDW-DCK-1; 3:21-cv- 00672-FDW)

Submitted: December 15, 2022 Decided: December 20, 2022

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

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Dent Hall Turner, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 22-6987 Doc: 8 Filed: 12/20/2022 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Dent Hall Turner seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his

amended

motion and his proposed second amended § 2255 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 Turner 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