USCA4 Appeal: 24-6773 Doc: 12 Filed: 10/16/2024 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-6773

WALTER TIMOTHY GAUSE, Petitioner - Appellant, v. FRANK L. PERRY, Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Frank D. Whitney, District Judge. (3:16-cv-00631-FDW)

Submitted: October 10, 2024 Decided: October 16, 2024

Before WILKINSON and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Walter Timothy Gause, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

USCA4 Appeal: 24-6773 Doc: 12 Filed: 10/16/2024 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM: Walter Timothy Gause seeks to appeal the district court’s order construing his postjudgment motions to amend as 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petitions and dismissing them as successive and unauthorized. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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, 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 petition 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 Gause has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Gause’s motions for a transcript at government expense and to amend appeal and take judicial notice, 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