US v. Claude Bellamy

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:99-cr-00049-F-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999973185]. Mailed to: Claude Wendell Bellamy FCI WILLIAMSBURG FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION P. O. Box 340 Salters, SC 29590-0000. [16-7292]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-7292

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CLAUDE WENDELL BELLAMY,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (7:99-cr-00049-F-1)

Submitted:

November 17, 2016

Decided:

November 22, 2016

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and MOTZ and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Claude Wendell Bellamy, Appellant Pro Se. G. Norman Acker, III,
Assistant United States Attorney, John Samuel Bowler, OFFICE OF
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Claude Wendell Bellamy seeks to appeal the district court’s
order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion.
not

appealable

unless

a

circuit

certificate of appealability.

justice

or

The order is

judge

issues

a

28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2012).

A certificate of appealability will not issue absent “a substantial
showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”
§ 2253(c)(2) (2012).

28 U.S.C.

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 (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 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
Bellamy has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we deny

a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
Additionally, we construe Bellamy’s notice of appeal and
informal brief as an application to file a second or successive
§ 2255 motion.

United States v. Winestock, 340 F.3d 200, 208 (4th

2

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Cir. 2003).

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In order to obtain authorization to file a successive

§ 2255 motion, a prisoner must assert claims based on either:
(1) newly discovered evidence that . . . would be
sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence
that no reasonable factfinder would have found the
movant guilty of the offense; or
(2) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive
to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that
was previously unavailable.
28 U.S.C. § 2255(h).
these

criteria.

Bellamy’s claims do not satisfy either of

Therefore,

we

deny

authorization

to

file

a

successive § 2255 motion.
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

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