UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

ELIJAH CHARLES ANDERSON,

Petitioner-Appellant,

v.

TIM LEMASTER, Warden, and ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

Respondents-Appellees.	No. 97-2368

(D.C. No. CIV-96-1367-SC)

(D. New Mexico)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

Before BALDOCK, EBEL and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

Elijah Charles Anderson ("Anderson") appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

Anderson was convicted in New Mexico state court of first-degree murder and robbery and was found to be a habitual offender. (R. Vol. 2, #13, Ex. A.) He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, plus consecutive sentences of three years for the robbery and eight years for being a habitual offender. (Id.) After exhausting his state remedies, Anderson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which he raised seven claims.1 (R. Vol. I #1; R. Vol. I #14 at 2.) Based on two reports and recommendations by a magistrate judge, the district court dismissed Anderson's petition with prejudice. (R. Vol. I #23, #28.) It denied his application for a certificate of appealability. (R. Vol. I #31.)

On appeal, Anderson requests that we issue a certificate of appealability and raises four issues. Three issues are procedural – he contends that the district court erred in dismissing his petition without allowing discovery, without appointing counsel for Anderson, and without conducting an evidentiary hearing. The fourth issue appears to concern the merits of the claims he presented to the district court.

We do not find that Anderson has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c). Therefore, we deny a certificate of appealability and DISMISS the appeal.

The mandate shall issue forthwith.

ENTERED FOR THE COURT

David M. Ebel

Circuit Judge