UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 99-7196

JAMES FEATHERSTONE,

Petitioner - Appellant,

versus

RONALD HUTCHINSON, Warden of the Maryland House of Correction; ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF MARYLAND,

Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. William M. Nickerson, District Judge. (CA-99-175-WMN)

Submitted: October 21, 1999 Decided: October 27, 1999

Before WIDENER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

James Featherstone, Appellant Pro Se. John Joseph Curran, Jr., At- torney General, Ann Norman Bosse, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MARYLAND, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

James Featherstone appeals the district court’s order denying

relief on his petition filed under

(West 1994 &

Supp. 1999). 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 on the reasoning

of the district court. See Featherstone v. Hutchinson, No. CA-99-

175-WMN (D. Md. Aug. 13, 1999).* We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in

the materials before the court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

DISMISSED

* Although the district court’s order is marked as “filed” on August 12, 1999, the district court’s records show that it was entered on the docket sheet on August 13, 1999. Pursuant to Rules 58 and 79(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it is the date that the order was entered on the docket sheet that we take as the effective date of the district court’s decision. See Wilson v. Murray,

(4th Cir. 1986).

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