USCA4 Appeal: 22-6925 Doc: 5 Filed: 02/24/2023 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-6925

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MICHAEL LAWRENCE MAYNES, JR., a/k/a Kamile Jones, a/k/a Mac Mill, a/k/a Horseblock, Jr., Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Liam O’Grady, Senior District Judge. (1:15-cr-00336-LO-1; 1:19-cv-00499- LO)

Submitted: February 21, 2023 Decided: February 24, 2023

Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Michael Lawrence Maynes, Jr., Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM: Michael Lawrence Maynes, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion and denying his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) motion for compassionate release. * The portion of the order denying relief on Maynes’ 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B). 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). 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, 580 U.S. 100, 115-17 (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, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Maynes 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

* In his informal brief, Maynes does not address the district court’s denial of his motion for compassionate release. Maynes has therefore forfeited appellate review of the district court’s denial of that motion. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b); see also Jackson v. Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014) (“The informal brief is an important document; under Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues preserved in that brief.”).

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adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED