                               UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                               No. 02-6967



MILTON J. SONNIER,

                                               Petitioner - Appellant,

          versus


RONALD J. ANGELONE, Director of the Virginia
Department of Corrections,

                                                Respondent - Appellee.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Henry C. Morgan, Jr., District
Judge. (CA-01-843-2)


Submitted:   August 15, 2002                 Decided:   August 26, 2002


Before NIEMEYER, LUTTIG, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Milton J. Sonnier, Appellant Pro Se. Donald Eldridge Jeffrey, III,
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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:

     Milton J. Sonnier seeks to appeal the district court’s order

adopting the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge and

denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000).

We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion

accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and find no

reversible    error.   Accordingly,   we   deny   a   certificate   of

appealability and dismiss the appeal on the reasoning of the

district court. See Sonnier v. Angelone, No. CA-01-843-2 (E.D. Va.

filed May 24, 2002, entered May 28, 2002).    We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

presented in the materials before the court and argument would not

aid the decisional process.




                                                            DISMISSED




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