UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 97-7343

JOHN EDWARD SCRUGGS, JR., Petitioner - Appellant, versus

GEORGE DEEDS, Warden; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western Dis- trict of Virginia, at Roanoke. James C. Turk, District Judge. (CA-97-26-R)

Submitted: February 27, 1998 Decided: March 20, 1998

Before NIEMEYER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

John Edward Scruggs, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Eugene Paul Murphy, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellant seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 1997). We have reviewed the record and the district court's opinion accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and find no reversible error. To the extent that Scruggs alleges cause for the procedural default of his malicious prosecution claim, we find that his attorney was not ineffective, and thus that federal review of this claim is barred. See Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 262 (1989). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal substantially on the reasoning of the district court. Scruggs v. Deeds, No. CA-97-26-R (W.D. Va. Sept. 15, 1997).

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal conten- tions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED