US v. Rickey Merica

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--denying for certificate of appealability Originating case number: 5:04-cr-00015-GEC-RSB-1, 5:11-cv-80375-GEC-RSB Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998868379]. Mailed to: R. Merica. [12-6032]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-6032

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
RICKEY A. MERICA,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg.
Glen E. Conrad, Chief
District Judge.
(5:04-cr-00015-GEC-RSB-1; 5:11-cv-80375-GECRSB)

Submitted:

May 31, 2012

Decided:

June 5, 2012

Before KING, DUNCAN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Rickey A. Merica, Appellant Pro Se.
Grayson A. Hoffman, Jeb
Thomas Terrien, Assistant United States Attorneys, Harrisonburg,
Virginia,
Ronald
Mitchell
Huber,
Assistant
United
States
Attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Rickey A. Merica seeks to appeal the district court’s
order

construing

his

motion

for

relief

from

judgment,

filed

pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(d)(1), (3), as a 28 U.S.C.A.
§ 2255

(West

Supp.

2011)

motion

unauthorized, successive motion.
unless

a

circuit

appealability.

justice

or

and

dismissing

it

as

an

The order is not appealable

judge

issues

a

28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2006).

certificate

of

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.

Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85.

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude
that Merica has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we

deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
dispense

with

oral

argument

because
2

the

facts

and

We

legal

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contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

3