                              UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                              No. 10-7363


DARIUS T. HICKS,

                Petitioner – Appellant,

          v.

TRACY S. RAY,

                Respondent – Appellee,

          and

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                Respondent.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria.   Liam O’Grady, District
Judge. (1:09-cv-00569-LO-TCB)


Submitted:   December 21, 2010               Decided:    January 4, 2011


Before NIEMEYER,   Circuit    Judge,   and   HAMILTON,   Senior   Circuit
Judge. *


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.




     *
       This opinion is filed by a quorum of the panel pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 46(d) (2006).
Darius T. Hicks, Appellant Pro Se.    Robert H. Anderson, III,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia,
for Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.




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PER CURIAM:

               Darius T. Hicks seeks to appeal the district court’s

order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition.

The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge

issues     a     certificate        of     appealability.           See    28     U.S.C.

§ 2253(c)(1) (2006).           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) (2006).                  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     Hicks    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




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before   the   court   and   argument   would   not   aid   the   decisional

process.

                                                                   DISMISSED




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