United States v. Watlington

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 09-8139

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

DANIEL WATLINGTON, a/k/a Gator Slim,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior District Judge. (5:05-cr-00004-F-1)

Submitted: June 1, 2010 Decided: June 7, 2010

Before GREGORY, SHEDD, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Daniel Watlington, Appellant Pro Se. Anne Margaret Hayes, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Daniel Watlington appeals the district court=s order

denying his motion for disqualification of the district court

judge who presided over his criminal trial from presiding over

the 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2009) motion Watlington

planned to file. The district court denied the motion on the

merits. Because Watlington had not yet filed his § 2255 motion,

however, the disqualification motion was premature. Industry

Network Sys., Inc. v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 54 F.3d 150,

156 (3d Cir. 1995). We therefore affirm as modified to reflect

that the dismissal is without prejudice because the motion was

not ripe for review. We dispense with oral argument because the

facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the

materials before the court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

AFFIRMED