US v. Ernest Riley, No. 22-7403 (4th Cir. 2023)

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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 22-7403 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ERNEST DWAYNE RILEY, a/k/a Simba Johnson, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, Senior District Judge. (2:19-cr-00124-RAJ-RJK-1; 2:20cv-00418-RAJ-RJK) Submitted: October 2, 2023 Decided: October 25, 2023 Before WILKINSON and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Ernest Dwayne Riley, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Ernest Dwayne Riley 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, 580 U.S. 100, 115-17 (2017). We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Riley 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 2

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