UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 99-6992

TONY E. STATON, Petitioner - Appellant, versus

RONALD J. ANGELONE, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Norfolk. Jerome B. Friedman, District Judge. (CA-98-1127-2)

Submitted: December 22, 1999 Decided: January 20, 2000

Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Tony E. Staton, Appellant Pro Se. Hazel Elizabeth Shaffer, Assis- tant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Tony E. Staton seeks to appeal the district court’s order dis- missing as untimely his petition filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 1999). We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion accepting the recommendation of the mag- istrate judge and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny Staton’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis, deny a certificate of appealability, and dismiss the appeal on the reasoning of the district court. See Staton v. Angelone, No. CA-98-1127-2 (E.D. Va. June 30, 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 signed and date stamped on June 29, 1999, the district court’s records show that it was entered on the docket sheet on June 30, 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, 806 F.2d 1232, 1234-35 (4th Cir. 1986).