Thomas Belcher v. Gene Johnson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:10-cv-00823-REP Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998732256].. [11-6851]

Appeal: 11-6851

Document: 12

Date Filed: 11/30/2011

Page: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-6851

THOMAS LEE BELCHER,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
GENE
M.
JOHNSON,
Corrections,

Director,

Virginia

Department

of

Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.
Robert E. Payne, Senior
District Judge. (3:10-cv-00823-REP)

Submitted:

November 3, 2011

Decided:

November 30, 2011

Before WILKINSON, GREGORY, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Robert Allen Ratliff, ROBERT A. RATLIFF, PC, Mobile, Alabama;
Jennifer T. Stanton, J.T. STANTON, PC, Norfolk, Virginia, for
Appellant.
Virginia Bidwell Theisen, Senior Assistant Attorney
General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Appeal: 11-6851

Document: 12

Date Filed: 11/30/2011

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PER CURIAM:
Thomas

Lee

Belcher

seeks

to

appeal

the

district

court’s order dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006)
petition.
or

judge

The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice
issues

a

certificate

§ 2253(c)(1)(A) (2006).
issue

absent

“a

appealability.

28

U.S.C.

A certificate of appealability will not

substantial

constitutional right.”

of

showing

of

the

denial

28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2006).

of

a

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

Cockrell,

(2000);

(2003).

see

Miller-El

v.

537

U.S.

322,

336-38

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.
529 U.S. at 484-85.

Slack,

We have independently reviewed the record

and conclude that Belcher 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

2

Appeal: 11-6851

before

Document: 12

the

court

Date Filed: 11/30/2011

and

argument

would

Page: 3 of 3

not

aid

the

decisional

process.
DISMISSED

3