Donnie Morton v. Frank Perry

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--denying Motion to proceed in forma pauperis (FRAP 24) [999720278-2]; denying Motion certificate of appealability (Local Rule 22(a)) [999694323-2]. Originating case number: 1:15-cv-00319-CCE-LPA. Copies to all parties and the district court. [999835448]. Mailed to: Donnie Morton. [15-7754]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-7754

DONNIE GEORGE MORTON,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
FRANK L. PERRY,
Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
District Judge. (1:15-cv-00319-CCE-LPA)

Submitted:

May 24, 2016

Decided:

May 27, 2016

Before DUNCAN, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Donnie George Morton, Appellant Pro Se. Clarence Joe DelForge,
III, Nicholaos George Vlahos, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Donnie George Morton seeks to appeal the district court’s
order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition.
The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge
issues

a

certificate

§ 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012).
issue

absent

“a

of

appealability.

U.S.C.

A certificate of appealability will not

substantial

constitutional right.”

28

showing

of

the

denial

28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2012).

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
Morton has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we deny

Morton’s motion for a certificate of appealability, deny leave
to

proceed

dispense

in

with

forma

pauperis,

oral

argument

and

dismiss

because

2

the

the

appeal.

facts

and

We
legal

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contentions

are

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adequately

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presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

3