USCA4 Appeal: 23-6022 Doc: 15 Filed: 02/29/2024 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-6022

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

EMMANUEL JEROME GARDNER,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Greenville. Terrence W. Boyle, District Judge. (4:14-cr-00061-BO-1; 4:21-cv-00003-BO)

Submitted: February 23, 2024 Decided: February 29, 2024

Before NIEMEYER, KING, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Emmanuel Jerome Gardner, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 23-6022 Doc: 15 Filed: 02/29/2024 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Emmanuel Jerome Gardner seeks to appeal the district court’s final order denying

relief on his

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,

, 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,

(2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel,

(2000)).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Gardner 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

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