Soteros Cocalis v. Joe Hamilton

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-6580
SOTEROS COCALIS,
Petitioner - Appellant,
versus
JOE HAMILTON; CARLA OKONEK; MIKE EASLEY,
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-99-87-5-H)
Submitted: June 15, 2000 Decided: June 26, 2000
Before NIEMEYER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Cir-
cuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Nora Henry Hargrove, Wilmington, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Clarence Joe DelForge, III, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH
CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).

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PER CURIAM:
Soteros Cocalis appeals the district court’s judgment order
denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West
1994 & Supp. 2000). We have reviewed the record and the district
court's opinion and find no reversible error. We do not review the
merits of Cocalis’ claim that his protection against double
jeopardy was violated by the imposition of a drug tax and a con-
viction and sentence based upon the same drugs because the state
court invoked a state procedural bar rule in disposing of this
claim. See Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 264 n.10 (1989). As to
Cocalis’ remaining claims, we agree with the district court’s rea-
soning. See Cocalis v. Hamilton, No. CA-99-87-5-H (E.D.N.C. Mar.
15, 2000). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and
dismiss the appeal. 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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