United States v. Robert Winfield, Jr.

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 12-6973 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ROBERT LEE WINFIELD, JR., a/k/a Tubbs, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Robert E. Payne, Senior District Judge. (2:95-cr-00193-REP-1; 2:12-cv-00180-REP) Submitted: July 19, 2012 Decided: July 26, 2012 Before DUNCAN, AGEE, and WYNN, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Robert Lee Winfield, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Laura Pellatiro Tayman, Assistant United States Attorney, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Robert Lee Winfield, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court’s order construing his “MOTION UNDER THE ALL WRITS ACT PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1651 AND/OR FEDERAL RULES OF CIVL [sic] PROCEDURE, RULE 60(b) AND/OR NUNC PRO TUNC” pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2012) and dismissing it as successive. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2006). 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) (2006). 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 motion 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 Winfield has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. 2 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 3