
    UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alex Lamont SMITH, Defendant-Appellant.
    No. 02-7415.
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted Jan. 28, 2003.
    Decided Feb. 20, 2003.
    
      Alex Lamont Smith, Appellant Pro Se. Stephen Donald Warner, Office of the United States Attorney, Elkins, West Virginia, for Appellee.
    Before WILKINS, Chief Judge, and WILLIAMS and KING, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
   PER CURIAM.

Alex Lamont Smith, a federal prisoner, seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting in part and rejecting in part the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on Smith’s motion filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000). An appeal may not be taken from the final order in a § 2255 proceeding unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2000). A certificate of appealability -will not issue for claims addressed by a district court on the merits absent “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2000); see Rose v. Lee, 252 F.3d 676, 683 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 941, 122 S.Ct. 318, 151 L.Ed.2d 237 (2001). We have independently reviewed the record and conclude for the reasons stated by the district court that Smith has not made the requisite showing. See United States v. Smith, Nos. CR-96-14, CA-99-49 (N.D.W.Va. Aug. 13, 2002). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability 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.  