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United States v. Douglas, 07-7784 (2008)

Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Number: 07-7784 Visitors: 35
Filed: Mar. 28, 2008
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 07-7784 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. NIGEL NICHOLAS DOUGLAS, JR., Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Henry Coke Morgan, Jr., Senior District Judge. (2:93-cr-00131-HCM-7) Submitted: March 25, 2008 Decided: March 28, 2008 Before MOTZ, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Nigel Nichol
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                                UNPUBLISHED

                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                        FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                                No. 07-7784



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                  Plaintiff - Appellee,

          v.


NIGEL NICHOLAS DOUGLAS, JR.,

                  Defendant - Appellant.


Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Henry Coke Morgan, Jr., Senior
District Judge. (2:93-cr-00131-HCM-7)


Submitted:     March 25, 2008                 Decided:   March 28, 2008


Before MOTZ, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Nigel Nicholas Douglas, Jr., Appellant Pro Se.      Robert Joseph
Seidel, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Norfolk, Virginia,
for Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

          Nigel Nicholas Douglas, Jr., seeks to appeal the district

court’s order treating his Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion as a

successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) motion, and dismissing it on

that basis.   The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice

or judge issues a certificate of appealability.        See 28 U.S.C.

§ 2253(c)(1) (2000); Reid v. Angelone, 
369 F.3d 363
, 369 (4th Cir.

2004).   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) (2000).   A prisoner satisfies this standard by

demonstrating   that   reasonable   jurists   would   find   that   any

assessment of the constitutional claims by the district court is

debatable or wrong and that any dispositive procedural ruling by

the district court is likewise debatable.     Miller-El v. Cockrell,

537 U.S. 322
, 336-38 (2003); Slack v. McDaniel, 
529 U.S. 473
, 484

(2000); Rose v. Lee, 
252 F.3d 676
, 683-84 (4th Cir. 2001).     We have

independently reviewed the record and conclude that Douglas has not

made the requisite showing.   Accordingly, we deny a certificate of

appealability and dismiss the appeal.

          Additionally, we construe Douglas’s notice of appeal and

informal brief as an application to file a second or successive

motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.   See United States v. Winestock, 
340 F.3d 200
, 208 (4th Cir. 2003).   In order to obtain authorization to

file a successive § 2255 motion, a prisoner must assert claims


                                 - 2 -
based on either: (1) a new rule of constitutional law, previously

unavailable, made retroactive by the Supreme Court to cases on

collateral review; or (2) newly discovered evidence, not previously

discoverable      by   due   diligence,   that   would   be    sufficient   to

establish    by    clear     and   convincing    evidence     that,   but   for

constitutional error, no reasonable factfinder would have found the

movant guilty of the offense.             28 U.S.C. §§ 2244(b)(2), 2255

(2000).   Douglas’s claims do not satisfy either of these criteria.

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

the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.



                                                                      DISMISSED




                                     - 3 -

Source:  CourtListener

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