
    Donald MAZARIEGOS-VICENTE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Harold W. CLARKE, Respondent-Appellee.
    No. 17-6920
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted: November 30, 2017
    Decided: December 22, 2017
    
      Donald Cipriano Mazariegos-Vicente, Appellant Pro Se.
    Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and DUNCAN and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
   Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Donald Cipriano Mazariegos-Vicente seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The order is 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, 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 Mazariegos-Vi-cente has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of ap-pealability, 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 this court and argument would not -aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED  