United States v. Pitts

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 02-7170 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus EDGAR NELSON PITTS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. James C. Turk, District Judge. (CR-94-68, CA-00-848) Submitted: November 7, 2002 Decided: November 14, 2002 Before WILKINS and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Edgar Nelson Pitts, Appellant Pro Se. Thomas Jack Bondurant, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Edgar Nelson Pitts appeals the district court’s decision construing his Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for reconsideration of the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) motion as a successive § 2255 motion and denying it for failure to receive proper authorization from this court. On appeal, Pitts contends that his motion should have been construed under Rule 60(b). In his motion, Pitts alleged that the district court failed to consider the merits of his claims raised in his original § 2255 motion. Even assuming Pitts is correct that the district court misconstrued his motion, we find that his Rule 60(b) motion is without merit. The district court dismissed his first § 2255 motion as untimely filed, and we upheld the dismissal on appeal. Pitts’ efforts to revive the merits of his claims in a Rule 60(b) motion are unavailing, and he offers no argument rebutting the conclusion that his § 2255 motion was untimely filed. 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 2