Nathaniel Teamer v. SCOTT LEWIS, Perry Correctional Institution

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 17-7209
NATHANIEL TEAMER,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
SCOTT LEWIS, Perry Correctional Institution,
Respondent - Appellee,
and
BRYAN STIRLING, Commissioner South Carolina Department of Corrections,
Respondent.
No. 17-7259
NATHANIEL TEAMER,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
SCOTT LEWIS, Perry Correctional Institution,
Respondent - Appellee,
and
BRYAN STIRLING, Commissioner South Carolina Department of Corrections,

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Respondent.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
Greenville. Patrick Michael Duffy, Senior District Judge. (6:16-cv-03339-PMD; 6:16-cv-
03340-PMD)
Submitted: April 24, 2018 Decided: May 3, 2018
Before WILKINSON, TRAXLER, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Elizabeth Anne Franklin-Best, BLUME, FRANKLIN-BEST & YOUNG, LLC, Columbia,
South Carolina, for Appellant.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Nathaniel Teamer seeks to appeal the district court’s orders accepting the
recommendations of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254
(2012) petitions. The orders are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a
certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). 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 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 Teamer has not made
the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny certificates of appealability, deny leave to
proceed in forma pauperis, and dismiss the appeals. 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

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