The Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by a federal prisoner seeking to challenge a district court order dismissing his habeas motion. The court denied a certificate of appealability because the prisoner failed to show that the procedural ruling was debatable or that his constitutional claims were substantial.
Mason White Hyde filed a petition for a writ of coram nobis, which the district court construed as a motion under Section twenty-eight United States Code, two thousand five hundred fifty-five. The district court dismissed the motion as successive and unauthorized. Hyde sought to appeal this order.
The court’s reasoning
The court noted that an order dismissing a habeas motion is not appealable unless a certificate of appealability is issued. To obtain such a certificate, a prisoner must make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate that the procedural ruling is debatable and that the motion states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. The court reviewed the record and concluded that Hyde did not make this requisite showing.
What it means going forward
The dismissal prevents the prisoner from pursuing further appellate review of the district court’s procedural dismissal of his habeas motion.
