Townsend v. Angelone ( 1999 )

UNPUBLISHED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Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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