UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

ALI MEHDIPOUR,
Petitioner - Appellant,	No. 98-6118
v.	(D.C. No. CIV-97-1712-A)
OKLAHOMA COUNTY SHERIFF; THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA; OKLAHOMA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY; and OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT,	(W.D. Okla.)
Respondent - Appellee.

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

Before ANDERSON, McKAY, and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

Petitioner, proceeding pro se, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 seeking to enjoin his Oklahoma state criminal proceeding. He alleges that the arrest, search, and seizure by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs violated his Fourth Amendment rights and that the state court failed to provide a probable cause determination hearing on his state petition for writ of habeas corpus. The magistrate judge recommended that the petition be dismissed. The district court adopted the magistrate judge's Findings and Recommendation and, together with its reliance on the doctrines of abstention and exhaustion, it dismissed the petition. On appeal, Petitioner requests that we issue a certificate of appealability and claims that the magistrate judge and the district court erroneously construed his claims.1

After thoroughly reviewing the briefs and the record, we agree with the district court that the federal habeas petition is premature.2 Thus, we deny Petitioner a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal for substantially the same reasons as stated in the district court's Order filed February 18, 1998. We

also deny Petitioner's Motion to Expedite Appeal.

DENIED and DISMISSED.

Entered for the Court

Monroe McKay

Circuit Judge