Morton v. Johnson, 030811 FED4, 10-7300

• Opinion Judge: PER CURIAM:
• Party Name: MARK MORTON, Petitioner - Appellant, v. GENE JOHNSON, Respondent - Appellee.
• Attorney: Mark Morton, Appellant Pro Se. Karen Misbach, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.
• Judge Panel: Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
• Case Date: March 08, 2011
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

MARK MORTON, Petitioner - Appellant,

v.

GENE JOHNSON, Respondent - Appellee.

No. 10-7300

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

March 8, 2011

UNPUBLISHED

Submitted: February 28, 2011

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:09-cv-00742-GBL-IDD)

Mark Morton, Appellant Pro Se.

Karen Misbach, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Mark Morton seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2006). 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) (2006). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003). When 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. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85. We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Morton 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 the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED.