David Golden v. Bobby Shearin

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-7839 DAVID DAVON GOLDEN, Petitioner - Appellant, v. WARDEN BOBBY SHEARIN; THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF MARYLAND, Respondents - Appellees. No. 14-6213 DAVID DAVON GOLDEN, Petitioner - Appellant, v. WARDEN BOBBY SHEARIN; THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF MARYLAND, Respondents - Appellees. Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Peter J. Messitte, Senior District Judge. (8:11-cv-00086-PJM) Submitted: March 26, 2014 Decided: April 1, 2014 Before KEENAN and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. David Davon Golden, 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 Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 2 PER CURIAM: David Davon Golden seeks to appeal the district court’s orders denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition and denying his Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motion. The orders are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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). 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 Golden has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Golden’s motion to appoint counsel, deny Golden’s motion for a hearing en banc, deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, and dismiss the appeal. We 3 dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this Court and argument would not aid the decisional process. DISMISSED 4