Berrow v. Beck

Filing 920080207

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 07-7287

MELVIN DOUGLAS BERROW, Petitioner - Appellant, versus THEODIS BECK, Secretary, Department of Corrections, North Carolina Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Durham. James A. Beaty, Jr., Chief District Judge. (1:05-cv-00019-JAB)

Submitted:

January 28, 2008

Decided:

February 7, 2008

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Melvin Douglas Berrow, Appellant Pro Se. Sandra Wallace-Smith, Assistant Attorney General, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM: Melvin Douglas Berrow moves for a certificate of

appealability, seeking to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000) petition. 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 prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that any assessment of the constitutional claims by the district court is debatable or wrong and that any

dispositive procedural ruling by the district court is likewise debatable. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003);

Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); Rose v. Lee, 252 F.3d 676, 683-84 (4th Cir. 2001). We have independently reviewed the

record and conclude that Berrow has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny the motion for a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. and dispense with oral We deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis 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

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