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Benjamin Heyward v. Warden Bodison, 11-7413 (2012)

Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Number: 11-7413 Visitors: 30
Filed: Jul. 12, 2012
Latest Update: Mar. 26, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 11-7413 BENJAMIN HEYWARD, Petitioner - Appellant, v. WARDEN MCKITHER BODISON, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Greenville. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., District Judge. (6:10-cv-01112-JFA) Submitted: June 15, 2012 Decided: July 12, 2012 Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Benjamin Heyward, Appellant Pro
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                             UNPUBLISHED

                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                        FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                             No. 11-7413


BENJAMIN HEYWARD,

                Petitioner - Appellant,

          v.

WARDEN MCKITHER BODISON,

                Respondent - Appellee.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Greenville.       Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.,
District Judge. (6:10-cv-01112-JFA)


Submitted:   June 15, 2012                  Decided:   July 12, 2012


Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Benjamin Heyward, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General, Brendan McDonald, OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Columbia, South Carolina,
for Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

               Benjamin Heyward seeks to appeal the district court’s

order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and

denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition.                               The

order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues

a    certificate       of    appealability.            28   U.S.C.    § 2253(c)(1)(A)

(2006).     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) (2006).                   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 Heyward has not made the requisite showing.                           Accordingly,

we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.

We   dispense       with     oral   argument      because    the     facts   and    legal



                                             2
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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