United States of America v. Ziyad Yaghi

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 19-6500

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

ZIYAD YAGHI,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:09-cr-00216-FL-8; 5:15-cv-00523-FL)

Submitted: January 3, 2020 Decided: February 25, 2020

Before WILKINSON, KEENAN, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Robert Joseph Boyle, ROBERT J. BOYLE, ATTORNEY AT LAW, New York, New
York, for Appellant.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

2

PER CURIAM:

Ziyad Yaghi seeks to appeal the district court’s order adopting in part the
recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2018)
motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of
appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2018). 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) (2012). 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 motion 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 Yaghi 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