United States v. Quinae Stephens

USCA4 Appeal: 24-6872 Doc: 9 Filed: 03/31/2025 Pg: 1 of 3 UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 24-6872 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. QUINAE SHAMYRA STEPHENS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Sherri A. Lydon, District Judge. (4:21-cr-00651-SAL-1; 4:23-cv-04054-SAL) Submitted: March 27, 2025 Decided: March 31, 2025 Before THACKER and BERNER, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Quinae Shamyra Stephens, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 24-6872 Doc: 9 Filed: 03/31/2025 Pg: 2 of 3 PER CURIAM: Quinae Shamyra Stephens seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing her 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists could find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S. 100, 115-17 (2017). 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. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)). Limiting our review of the record to the issues raised in Stephens’ informal brief, we conclude that Stephens has not made the requisite showing. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b); see also Jackson v. Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014) (“The informal brief is an important document; under Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues preserved in that brief.”). Stephens’ informal brief raised new claims and did not address the district court’s dispositive rulings. Accordingly, we deny Stephens’ motion to appoint counsel and deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 24-6872 Doc: 9 Filed: 03/31/2025 Pg: 3 of 3 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 3