United States of America v. Megan Elizabeth Bardeen

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-7002
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
MEGAN ELIZABETH BARDEEN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Wilmington. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (7:18-cr-00179-FL-1, 7:20-cv-00049-
FL)
Submitted: February 21, 2023 Decided: February 24, 2023
Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
David Jonathon Joffe, JOFFE LAW, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Appellant.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Megan Elizabeth Bardeen seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the
recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on Bardeen’s 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)(B). 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).
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Bardeen has not
made the requisite showing. 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 this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED

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