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For this court to have jurisdiction over his appeal, a certificate of appealability ("COA") must be granted. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 123 S. Ct. 1029, 1039 (2003). Where, as here, the district court has denied the petition on procedural grounds without deciding the merits, a COA requires a showing "that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling." Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000).

With those standards in mind, we have considered the district court's order holding that the limitations period began to run after Mr. Hetchler exhausted his administrative remedies on March 2, 2001, that state proceedings filed after the one-year deadline did not toll the limitations period, that the federal petition is not timely filed and equitable tolling is not available. R. Doc. 30. After conducting an overview of Mr. Hetchler's claims and conducting a general assessment of their merits as required by Miller-El, 123 S. Ct. at 1039, we come to the following conclusion. Mr. Hetchler has not demonstrated that the district court's conclusions are debatable, let alone wrong and the district court did not abuse its considerable discretion in declining to appoint counsel.

The application for a COA is denied and this matter is DISMISSED.

Entered for the Court

Paul J. Kelly, Jr.

Circuit Judge

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