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Hilton v. McCall

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Jan 27, 2014
552 F. App'x 283 (4th Cir. 2014)

Opinion

No. 13-7470

01-27-2014

MICHAEL HILTON, Petitioner - Appellant, v. M. MCCALL, Warden Lee CI, Respondent - Appellee.

Michael Hilton, Appellant Pro Se. Alphonso Simon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.


UNPUBLISHED

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Aiken. Timothy M. Cain, District Judge. (1:12-cv-01540-TMC) Before WILKINSON and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Michael Hilton, Appellant Pro Se. Alphonso Simon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:

Michael Hilton 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 (2012) 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) (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 Hilton 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 contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED


Summaries of

Hilton v. McCall

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Jan 27, 2014
552 F. App'x 283 (4th Cir. 2014)
Case details for

Hilton v. McCall

Case Details

Full title:MICHAEL HILTON, Petitioner - Appellant, v. M. MCCALL, Warden Lee CI…

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Jan 27, 2014

Citations

552 F. App'x 283 (4th Cir. 2014)

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