Stephen Beckham v. Leroy Cartledge

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 6:14-cv-04358-MGL. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999955414]. [16-6345]

Appeal: 16-6345

Doc: 12

Filed: 10/26/2016

Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-6345

STEPHEN ANDREW BECKHAM, a/k/a Stephen A. Beckham,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
LEROY CARTLEDGE, McCormick Correctional Institution,
Respondent - Appellee,
and
BRYAN STIRLING, Commissioner South Carolina Department of
Corrections,
Respondent.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Greenville.
Mary G. Lewis, District Judge.
(6:14-cv-04358-MGL)

Submitted:

October 14, 2016

Decided:

October 26, 2016

Before DUNCAN, KEENAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Elizabeth Anne Franklin-Best, BLUME, NORRIS & FRANKLIN-BEST,
LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant.
Donald John
Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South
Carolina, for Appellee.

Appeal: 16-6345

Doc: 12

Filed: 10/26/2016

Pg: 2 of 4

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

2

Appeal: 16-6345

Doc: 12

Filed: 10/26/2016

Pg: 3 of 4

PER CURIAM:
Stephen Andrew Beckham seeks to appeal the district court’s
order accepting, in part, the recommendation of the magistrate
judge

and

petition.
or

judge

denying

relief

his

28

U.S.C.

§

2254

(2012)

The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice
issues

a

certificate

§ 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012).
issue

on

absent

“a

appealability.

28

U.S.C.

A certificate of appealability will not

substantial

constitutional right.”

of

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
Beckham has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we

deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
dispense

with

oral

argument

because

3

the

facts

and

We

legal

Appeal: 16-6345

Doc: 12

contentions

are

Filed: 10/26/2016

adequately

Pg: 4 of 4

presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

4