Randall Keystone v. Director, D.O.C.

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:12-cv-00018-JCT-RSB. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999028617]. Mailed to: Randall Keystone. [12-7558]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-7558

RANDALL J. KEYSTONE,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
DIRECTOR, D.O.C.,
Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Roanoke.
James C. Turk, Senior
District Judge. (7:12-cv-00018-JCT-RSB)

Submitted:

January 22, 2013

Decided: January 24, 2013

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Randall J. Keystone, Appellant Pro Se. Aaron Jennings Campbell,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia,
for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Randall
court’s

order

petition.

J.

Keystone

denying

relief

seeks
on

to
28

his

appeal
U.S.C.

district

§ 2254

(2006)

The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice

or judge issues a certificate of appealability.
§ 2253(c)(1)(A) (2006).
issue

the

absent

“a

A certificate of appealability will not

substantial

constitutional right.”

See 28 U.S.C.

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.

Slack,

529 U.S. at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude
that Keystone has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly,

we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
We

dispense

with

oral

argument

2

because

the

facts

and

legal

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contentions

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are

adequately

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presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

3