Francis Mbewe v. Wayne Webb

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                             UNPUBLISHED

                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                        FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                             No. 13-7985


FRANCIS C. MBEWE,

                Petitioner - Appellant,

          v.

WAYNE A. WEBB; OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND,

                Respondents - Appellees.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt.      Alexander Williams, Jr., District
Judge. (8:12-cv-01632-AW)


Submitted:   February 20, 2014             Decided:   February 26, 2014


Before DUNCAN, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Francis C. Mbewe, Appellant Pro Se. Edward John Kelley, OFFICE
OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND, Baltimore, Maryland, for
Appellees.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

               Francis C. Mbewe seeks to appeal the district court’s

order dismissing without prejudice his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012)

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)(A) (2012).          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) (2012).                   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 Mbewe has not made the requisite showing.                            Accordingly, we

deny    Mbewe’s     motion    for     a    certificate        of    appealability         and

dismiss the appeal.          We dispense with oral argument because the

facts    and    legal     contentions          are   adequately      presented      in    the



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materials   before   this   court   and   argument   would   not    aid   the

decisional process.

                                                                   DISMISSED




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