US v. Paul Johnson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case numbers: 5:10-cr-00005-SGW-1, 5:12-cv-80546-SGW-RSB. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999148870]. Mailed to: Paul Johnson. [13-6201]

Appeal: 13-6201

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-6201

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
PAUL MICHAEL JOHNSON,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg.
Samuel G. Wilson,
District Judge. (5:10-cr-00005-SGW-1; 5:12-cv-80546-SGW-RSB)

Submitted:

June 20, 2013

Decided:

July 12, 2013

Before DIAZ, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Paul Michael Johnson, Appellant Pro Se.
Jeb Thomas Terrien,
Assistant United States Attorney, Harrisonburg, Virginia, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Paul

Michael

Johnson

seeks

to

appeal

the

district

court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West
Supp.

2013)

motion.

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.

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

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude
that Johnson 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