US v. Benjamin Weatherly

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--denying Motion to appoint/assign counsel [999699891-2] Originating case number: 1:12-cr-00477-AJT-2,1:14-cv-01052-AJT Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999783651].. [15-7746]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-7746

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

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
Anthony J. Trenga,
District Judge. (1:12-cr-00477-AJT-2; 1:14-cv-01052-AJT)

Submitted:

March 22, 2016

Decided:

March 29, 2016

Before MOTZ, KING, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Benjamin Weatherly, Appellant Pro Se. Kyle William Maurer,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Benjamin

Weatherly

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
Weatherly has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we

deny Weatherly’s motion to appoint counsel, deny a certificate
of appealability, and dismiss the appeal.

We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

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presented in the materials before this court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED

3