United States of America v. Daniel Watlington, a/k/a Gator Slim

UNPUBLISHED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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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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

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