United States v. Watson

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 99-7537 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus JAMES DONALD WATSON, Defendant - Appellant. No. 00-6146 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus JAMES DONALD WATSON, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle Dis- trict of North Carolina, at Winston-Salem. William L. Osteen, Dis- trict Judge. (CR-94-139, CA-97-835-1) Submitted: March 31, 2000 Decided: July 19, 2000 Before WILKINS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. No. 99-7537 dismissed and No. 00-6146 affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. James Donald Watson, Appellant Pro Se. Benjamin H. White, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). 2 PER CURIAM: In No. 99-7537, James Donald Watson seeks to appeal the district court’s orders denying his motion filed under U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2000) and his motion for a certificate of appealability. The district court’s order denying Watson’s § 2255 motion was entered on the docket on June 16, 1998, and we construe his July 2, 1998 motion for a certificate of appealability as a timely notice of appeal from that order. See Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244, 248 (1992). Nonetheless, we conclude that the district court properly denied Watson’s § 2255 motion based upon the report and recom- mendation of the magistrate judge. Because Watson fails to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as to his various claims of trial error and ineffective assistance of counsel, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal as to the court’s denial of § 2255 relief. We further dis- miss Watson’s appeal from the district court’s order denying a cer- tificate of appealability for the same reason. In No. 00-6146, Watson appeals the court’s order denying his request for a hearing on his motions for an in camera inspection of documents and for the court to order the disclosure of certain documents. We affirm the court’s order denying Watson a hearing on the reasoning of the court. See United States v. Watson, Nos. CR- 94-139; CA-97-835-1 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 3, 2000). 3 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. No. 99-7537 - DISMISSED No. 00-6146 - AFFIRMED 4