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No. 95-2522 ___________

William H. Whetstine, * * Appellant, * * v. * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the Warden John Thalacker, Iowa * Southern District of Iowa. Men's Reformatory; State of * Iowa; Sally M. Chandler-Halford,* [UNPUBLISHED] Department of Corrections, * * Appellees. *

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Submitted: January 4, 1996

Filed: January 12, 1996 ___________

Before BOWMAN, BEAM, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. ___________

PER CURIAM.

William H. Whetstine, a Iowa inmate, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of third-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to two consecutive ten-year terms. The Iowa Supreme Court dismissed his direct appeal, Whetstine v. State, No. 87-1575 (Iowa Aug. 10, 1988), and affirmed the denial of his application for postconviction relief, Whetstine v. State, No. 93-205 (Iowa Apr. 4, 1994). Whetstine then filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1988) petition for habeas corpus relief. The District Court1 denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing, and Whetstine appeals.

1 The Honorable Charles R. Wolle, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. After careful review of the record before us and the briefs filed by Whetstine and by his appointed counsel, as well as the brief filed by the state, we conclude the District Court correctly denied Whetstine's petition. Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

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