                            UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                            No. 99-7033



RAY ELLIS TOWNSEND,

                                           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 Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Norfolk. William T. Prince, Magistrate Judge.
(CA-98-928)


Submitted:   December 16, 1999         Decided:     December 29, 1999


Before MURNAGHAN and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Cir-
cuit Judge.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Ray Ellis Townsend, Appellant Pro Se.       Jeffrey Scott Shapiro,
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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:

     Ray Ellis Townsend appeals from the magistrate judge’s report

and recommendation in his 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp.

1999) action.   We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction be-

cause the order is not appealable.   This court may exercise juris-

diction only over final orders, see 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1994), and

certain interlocutory and collateral orders, see 28 U.S.C. § 1292

(1994); Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b); Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan

Corp., 337 U.S. 541 (1949).   The order here appealed is neither a

final order nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral order.

     We deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal

as interlocutory. 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




                                 2
