UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 96-7781

HUGH R. EPPS, Petitioner - Appellant, versus ALTON BASKERVILLE, Warden, Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Richmond. David G. Lowe, Magistrate Judge. (CA-96-178)

Submitted: February 11, 1997 Decided: August 19, 1997

Before WILKINS, NIEMEYER, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Hugh R. Epps, Appellant Pro Se. Leah Ann Darron, Assistant Attor- ney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellant appeals the magistrate judge's* order denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1994), amended by Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214. We have reviewed the record and the magis- trate judge's opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the reasoning of the magistrate judge. Epps v. Baskerville, No. CA-96- (E.D. Va. Nov. 7, 1996). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the ma- terials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

* The parties consented to the jurisdiction of the magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) (1994).