UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-6336
RANDY WARREN JEFFERSON,
Petitioner - Appellant,
versus
GENE M. JOHNSON, Director of the Virginia
Department of Corrections,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Rebecca Beach Smith, District
Judge. (CA-02-126-2)
Submitted: June 12, 2003 Decided: June 17, 2003
Before WIDENER, LUTTIG, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Randy Warren Jefferson, Appellant Pro Se. Mary Kathleen Beatty
Martin, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Randall Warren Jefferson, a state prisoner, seeks to appeal
the district court’s order accepting the magistrate judge’s
recommendation and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000)
petition. Jefferson cannot appeal this order unless a circuit judge
or justice issues a certificate of appealability, and 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)
(2000). A habeas appellant meets this standard by demonstrating
that reasonable jurists would find that his constitutional claims
are debatable and that any dispositive procedural rulings by the
district court are also debatable or wrong. See Miller-El v.
Cockrell, U.S. , 123 S. Ct. 1029, 1039 (2003); Slack v.
McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); Rose v. Lee, 252 F.3d 676, 683
(4th Cir.), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 941 (2001). We have
independently reviewed the record and conclude Jefferson 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
2