
    Marty Tarrell GASTON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. SECRETARY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent-Appellee.
    No. 15-8008
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted: December 1, 2016
    Decided: December 6, 2016
    Marty Tarrell Gaston, Appellant Pro Se. Jess D. Mekeel, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
    Before SHEDD, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
   Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Marty Tarrell Gaston seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (2012) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of ap-pealability. 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, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (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, 120 S.Ct. 1595.

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Gaston has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, and dismiss the appeal. 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.

DISMISSED  