Filed: May 28, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-7326 WILLIAM SCOTT MACDONALD, Petitioner - Appellant, v. TIM MOOSE, Respondent – Appellee, and KEITH HOLDER, Respondent. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:09-cv-01047-GBL-TRJ) Submitted: January 22, 2015 Decided: May 28, 2015 Before MOTZ, KING, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. William Sc
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-7326 WILLIAM SCOTT MACDONALD, Petitioner - Appellant, v. TIM MOOSE, Respondent – Appellee, and KEITH HOLDER, Respondent. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:09-cv-01047-GBL-TRJ) Submitted: January 22, 2015 Decided: May 28, 2015 Before MOTZ, KING, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. William Sco..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-7326
WILLIAM SCOTT MACDONALD,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
TIM MOOSE,
Respondent – Appellee,
and
KEITH HOLDER,
Respondent.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District
Judge. (1:09-cv-01047-GBL-TRJ)
Submitted: January 22, 2015 Decided: May 28, 2015
Before MOTZ, KING, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
William Scott MacDonald, Appellant Pro Se. Robert H. Anderson,
III, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
William Scott MacDonald seeks to appeal the district
court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012)
petition as it pertained to his Virginia misdemeanor conviction
for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The order is
not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a
certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012).
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). 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 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 MacDonald has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly,
we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in
forma pauperis, deny appointment of counsel, and dismiss the
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appeal. 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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