USCA4 Appeal: 23-7099 Doc: 15 Filed: 12/09/2024 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-7099

RICHARD WADE KENDRICK,

Petitioner - Appellant,

v.

CHADWICK DOTSON, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections,

Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. James P. Jones, Senior District Judge. (7:22-cv-00454-JPJ-PMS)

Submitted: December 5, 2024 Decided: December 9, 2024

Before GREGORY and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Richard Wade Kendrick, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 23-7099 Doc: 15 Filed: 12/09/2024 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Richard Wade Kendrick seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing as

untimely his

petition. See Gonzalez v. Thaler,

, 148 & n.9

(2012) (explaining that § 2254 petitions are subject to one-year statute of limitations,

running from latest of four commencement dates enumerated in

(d)(1)).

The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of

appealability.

(c)(1)(A). 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 petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Gonzalez,

-41 (citing Slack v. McDaniel,

(2000)).

Limiting our review of the record to the issues raised in Kendrick’s informal brief,

we conclude that Kendrick has not made the requisite showing. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b); see

also Jackson v. Lightsey,

(4th Cir. 2014) (“The informal brief is an

important document; under Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues preserved

in that brief.”). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.

We deny Kendrick’s motion for 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