                            UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT



                            No. 96-7109



BENJAMIN E. COX,

                                           Petitioner - Appellant,

          versus

ANTHONY HATHAWAY, III, Superintendent; FRANK-
LIN FREEMAN,

                                          Respondents - Appellees.



Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Malcolm J. Howard, District
Judge. (CA-95-952-5-H)


Submitted:   November 21, 1996         Decided:     December 12, 1996


Before HALL, WILKINS, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Benjamin E. Cox, Appellant Pro Se. Sharon Coull Wilson, Associate
Attorney General, Mark John Pletzke, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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. § 2254 (1994), amended
by Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L.

No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214. We have reviewed the record and the

district court's opinion accepting the recommendation of the magis-

trate judge and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we deny a

certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the rea-

soning of the district court. Cox v. Hathaway, No. CA-95-952-5-H

(E.D.N.C. July 11, 1996). 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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