                            UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT



                            No. 97-6518



GLADSTONE NEYSMITH, a/k/a Fitzroy G. Blake,

                                           Petitioner - Appellant,

          versus


RONALD J. ANGELONE, Director, Virginia Depart-
ment of Corrections,

                                            Respondent - Appellee.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Richmond. David G. Lowe, Magistrate Judge.
(CA-96-706)


Submitted:   September 11, 1997       Decided:   September 22, 1997


Before RUSSELL, MURNAGHAN, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Gladstone Neysmith, Appellant Pro Se.      Kimberley Ann Whittle,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for
Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

     Appellant seeks to appeal the magistrate judge's order denying

relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 &

Supp. 1997).* We have reviewed the record and the magistrate
judge's opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny

a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the rea-

soning of the magistrate judge. Neysmith v. Angelone, No. CA-96-706

(E.D. Va. Apr. 3, 1997). We dispense with oral argument because the

facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the mate-

rials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.




                                                         DISMISSED




     *
       The parties consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate
judge under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) (1994).

                                2
