UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 00-6580

SOTEROS COCALIS, Petitioner - Appellant, versus

JOE HAMILTON; CARLA OKONEK; MIKE EASLEY, Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Malcolm J. Howard, District Judge. (CA-99-87-5-H)

Submitted: June 15, 2000 Decided: June 26, 2000

Before NIEMEYER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Cir- cuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Nora Henry Hargrove, Wilmington, North Carolina, for Appellant.

Clarence Joe DelForge, III, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Soteros Cocalis appeals the district court’s judgment order denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 2000). We have reviewed the record and the district court's opinion and find no reversible error. We do not review the merits of Cocalis’ claim that his protection against double jeopardy was violated by the imposition of a drug tax and a con- viction and sentence based upon the same drugs because the state court invoked a state procedural bar rule in disposing of this claim. See Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 264 n.10 (1989). As to Cocalis’ remaining claims, we agree with the district court’s rea- soning. See Cocalis v. Hamilton, No. CA-99-87-5-H (E.D.N.C. Mar.

15, 2000). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. 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