                               UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT



                               No. 97-6691



JOE MCCRAY,

                                              Petitioner - Appellant,

          versus


RICK JACKSON,

                                               Respondent - Appellee.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of North Carolina, at Raleigh. James C. Fox, District Judge.
(CA-96-507-5-F3)


Submitted:    April 16, 1998                 Decided:   April 28, 1998


Before WILKINS and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior
Circuit Judge.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Joe McCray, Appellant Pro Se. Clarence Joe DelForge, III, OFFICE
OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

     Appellant 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 accepting, as modified, the recommendation of the magis-

trate judge, and we find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny
a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the rea-

soning of the district court. McCray v. Jackson, No. CA-96-507-5-F3
(E.D.N.C. Apr. 24, 1997). 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




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