USCA4 Appeal: 22-7002 Doc: 9 Filed: 02/24/2023 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-7002

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MEGAN ELIZABETH BARDEEN, Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (7:18-cr-00179-FL-1, 7:20-cv-00049- FL)

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Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

David Jonathon Joffe, JOFFE LAW, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Appellant.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7002 Doc: 9 Filed: 02/24/2023 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM: Megan Elizabeth Bardeen seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on Bardeen’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 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). 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).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Bardeen 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