James Smith v. US
Filing
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:08-cv-00919 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998780108]. Mailed to: James Preston Smith. [11-7366]
Appeal: 11-7366
Document: 8
Date Filed: 02/03/2012
Page: 1 of 3
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 11-7366
JAMES P. SMITH,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; THE BATF,
Respondents - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Beckley.
Irene C. Berger,
District Judge. (5:08-cv-00919)
Submitted:
January 31, 2012
Decided:
February 3, 2012
Before NIEMEYER, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James Preston Smith, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
Appeal: 11-7366
Document: 8
Date Filed: 02/03/2012
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PER CURIAM:
James P. Smith seeks to appeal the district court’s
order
accepting
the
recommendation
of
the
magistrate
judge,
construing his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (2006) petition as a successive
28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2011) motion, and dismissing it
for lack of jurisdiction.
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.”
(2006).
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2)
When the district court denies relief on the merits, a
prisoner
satisfies
this
jurists
would
reasonable
standard
find
by
that
demonstrating
the
district
that
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).
denies
relief
demonstrate
on
both
procedural
that
the
When the district court
grounds,
dispositive
the
prisoner
procedural
must
ruling
is
debatable, and that the motion states a debatable claim of the
denial of a constitutional right.
We
have
independently
reviewed
the
Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85.
record
Smith has not made the requisite showing.
a
certificate
dispense
with
of
appealability
oral
argument
and
2
conclude
that
Accordingly, we deny
dismiss
because
and
the
the
appeal.
facts
and
We
legal
Appeal: 11-7366
Document: 8
Date Filed: 02/03/2012
Page: 3 of 3
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
3
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