UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 97-6585

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

TIMOTHY JAY BLACKWELL,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Charles E. Simons, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CR-90-319, CA-96-2854-0-6)

Submitted: January 15, 1998 Decided: January 27, 1998

Before MURNAGHAN and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

William Otis Kneece, KNEECE, KNEECE & BROWN, Columbia, South Caro- lina; Steven Jay Wisotsky, Miami, Florida; Robert Arnold Hassell, Hillsborough, North Carolina, for Appellant. Mark C. Moore, As- sistant United States Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM:

Timothy Blackwell seeks to appeal the district court's order

denying his motion filed under

(West 1994 &

Supp. 1997). We have reviewed the record and the district court's

opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny a cer-

tificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal substantially on the reasoning of the district court. United States v. Blackwell , Nos. CR-90-319; CA-96-2854-0-6 (D.S.C. Mar. 4, 1997). Because

Blackwell's claims of ineffective trial and appellate counsel are

without merit, we find it unnecessary to address whether Black- well's motion was timely under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective

Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA),

Stat.

1214. Finally, we deny Blackwell's motion for 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

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