United States v. Titus Lee

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: December 5, 2022
• Docket: 22-6505
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 22-6505 Doc: 6 Filed: 12/05/2022 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-6505

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

TITUS LEE,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. Henry E. Hudson, Senior District Judge. (3:19-cr-00036-HEH-EWH-1; 3:21- cv-00173-HEH)

Submitted: November 29, 2022 Decided: December 5, 2022

Before WYNN, HARRIS, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Titus Lee, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 22-6505 Doc: 6 Filed: 12/05/2022 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Titus Lee seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C.

§ 2255 motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a

certificate of appealability. See 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)).

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Lee 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