                              UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                              No. 97-7042



RICHARD A. VANDEGRIFT, SR.,

                                            Petitioner - Appellant,

          versus


EARL BESHEARS, Warden; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
STATE OF MARYLAND,

                                            Respondents - Appellees.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Chief District Judge.
(CA-96-1476-JFM)


Submitted:   July 2, 1998                   Decided:   July 17, 1998


Before NIEMEYER and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges, and HALL, Senior
Circuit Judge.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Richard A. Vandegrift, Sr., Appellant Pro Se. John Joseph Curran,
Jr., Attorney 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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:

     Richard A. Vandegrift, Sr., seeks to appeal the district

court’s   order   denying   relief   on   his   petition   filed   under   28

U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998). We have reviewed the

record and the district court’s opinion and find no reversible

error. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dis-

miss the appeal on the reasoning of the district court. Vandegrift

v. Beshears, No. CA-96-1476-JFM (D. Md. June 30, 1997). We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are ade-

quately presented in the materials before the court and argument

would not aid the decisional process.




                                                                   DISMISSED




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