UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 02-6390
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JAMES RUFUS WOODS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Durham. William L. Osteen, District
Judge. (CR-98-117, CA-01-526-1)
Submitted: May 16, 2002 Decided: May 28, 2002
Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James Rufus Woods, Appellant Pro Se. David Paul Folmar, Jr.,
Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
James Rufus Woods seeks to appeal the district court’s order
denying his motion filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp.
2001). We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion
accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and find no
reversible error. We decline to address Woods’ claim, raised for
the first time on appeal, that the district court lacked
jurisdiction to sentence him under 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(b)(1)(A) (West
1999 & Supp. 2001), because the Government failed to prove that the
cocaine base seized from him was in fact crack cocaine. See First
Va. Banks, Inc. v. BP Exploration & Oil Inc., 206 F.3d 404, 407 n.1
(4th Cir. 2000) (declining to consider issues raised for first time
on appeal); Muth v. United States, 1 F.3d 246, 250 (4th Cir. 1993)
(holding that issues raised for first time on appeal generally will
not be considered absent exceptional circumstances of plain error
or fundamental miscarriage of justice). Accordingly, we deny a
certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the
reasoning of the district court. See United States v. Woods, Nos.
CR-98-117; CA-01-526-1 (M.D.N.C. filed Feb. 7, 2002; entered
Feb. 8, 2002). 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