US v. Benjamin Lee

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--denying Motion to seal entire case [999344519-2], sealing motion to seal and informal brief. Originating case number: 1:09-cr-00551-ELH-1,1:12-cv-01321-ELH Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999409810]. Mailed to: Benjamin Lee. [13-7956]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-7956

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
BENJAMIN LEE,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore.
Ellen L. Hollander, District Judge.
(1:09-cr-00551-ELH-1; 1:12-cv-01321-ELH)

Submitted:

June 10, 2014

Decided:

August 5, 2014

Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Benjamin Lee, Appellant Pro Se.
Peter Marshall Nothstein,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland; Sujit
Raman, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland,
for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Benjamin

Lee

seeks

to

appeal

the

district

court’s

order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion.

The

order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues
a

certificate

(2012).

of

appealability.

28

U.S.C.

§ 2253(c)(1)(B)

A certificate of appealability will not issue absent “a

substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2012).
relief

on

the

demonstrating
district

merits,
that

court’s

debatable

or

a

When the district court denies

prisoner

reasonable

assessment

wrong.

Slack

satisfies

jurists

this

would

of

the

v.

McDaniel,

standard

find

U.S.

that

the

claims

constitutional
529

by

is

473,

484

(2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003).
When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the
prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural
ruling

is

debatable,

and

that

the

motion

states

claim of the denial of a constitutional right.

a

debatable

Slack, 529 U.S.

at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude
that Lee has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we

deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
moves to seal the entire case.

Lee

While we see no compelling

reason to seal everything, see In re State-Record Co., 917 F.2d
124,

129

(4th

Cir.

1990)

(docket
2

entry

sheet

not

likely

to

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contain information prejudicial to the criminal defendant), we
will grant the motion insofar as it pertains to his informal
brief and the motion to seal.

We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented
in the materials before this court and argument would not aid
the decisional process.
DISMISSED

3