United States v. Kenneth Reid

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 22-6701 Doc: 9 Filed: 09/27/2022 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-6701

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

KENNETH ROSHAUN REID,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Cameron McGowan Currie, Senior District Judge. (0:04-cr-00353-CMC-1)

Submitted: September 22, 2022 Decided: September 27, 2022

Before WILKINSON, DIAZ, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Kenneth Roshaun Reid, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 22-6701 Doc: 9 Filed: 09/27/2022 Pg: 2 of 3

PER CURIAM:

Kenneth Roshaun Reid has noted an appeal from the district court’s order denying

his motion to dismiss count 1 and his motion for judicial notice of acquittal on count 3.

Reid’s motions were, in substance, a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. The denial of

these motions is not appealable in the absence of a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C.

§ 2253(c)(1)(B). 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). When the district court

denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that

reasonable jurists could find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims

debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis, 137 S. Ct. 759, 773-74 (2017). 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. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing

Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

Reid’s motions challenged the validity of his convictions and should have been

construed as a successive § 2255 motion. * See Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 531-32

(2005); United States v. Winestock, 340 F.3d 200, 207 (4th Cir. 2003). In the absence of

pre-filing authorization from this Court, the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear Reid’s

* The district court denied relief on Reid’s prior § 2255 motion on the merits in 2010.

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successive § 2255 motion. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3). 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