Clifton Stallings v. Warden of Evans Correctional

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 2:10-cv-02668-RBH Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998798198]. Mailed to: Clifton Stallings. [11-7463]

Appeal: 11-7463

Document: 12

Date Filed: 02/28/2012

Page: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-7463

CLIFTON STALLINGS,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
WARDEN OF EVANS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION,
Respondent _ Appellee,
and
JON E. OZMINT, Director of SCDC,
Respondent.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Charleston.
R. Bryan Harwell, District
Judge. (2:10-cv-02668-RBH)

Submitted:

February 23, 2012

Decided:

February 28, 2012

Before MOTZ, DAVIS, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Clifton Stallings, Appellant Pro Se.
Donald John Zelenka,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, William Edgar Salter, III,
Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Clifton Stallings seeks to appeal the district court’s
order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and
dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition.
The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge
issues

a

certificate

§ 2253(c)(1)(A) (2006).
issue

absent

“a

of

appealability.

U.S.C.

A certificate of appealability will not

substantial

constitutional right.”

28

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 Stallings 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

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before

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the

court

Date Filed: 02/28/2012

and

argument

would

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not

aid

the

decisional

process.

DISMISSED

3