United States v. Cobb

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 99-6541 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus WILLIAM NATHANIEL COBB, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge. (CR-95-591, CA-98-3274-2-18) Submitted: June 22, 1999 Decided: October 22, 1999 Before LUTTIG, MICHAEL, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. William Nathaniel Cobb, Appellant Pro Se. Bruce Howe Hendricks, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: William Nathaniel Cobb seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his motion filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 1999). We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opin- ion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny a certif- icate of appealability and dismiss the appeal, relying for the most part on the reasoning of the district court. See United States v. Cobb, Nos. CR-95-591; CA-98-3274-2-18 (D.S.C. Apr. 1, 1999).* 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 * It is not clear that the district court was correct in concluding that Cobb was a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, which placed him in criminal history category VI. Nevertheless, we are able to affirm because the district court noted that Cobb’s criminal history category should be VI on an alternative ground: an upward departure from category V was warranted because Cobb’s criminal history was more serious than the average defendant in category V. See U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3. 2