[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
No. 96-1246
ROBERT LEBLANC,
Petitioner,
v.
RONALD DUVAL,
Respondent.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. Nancy J. Gertner, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Selya, Cyr and Boudin,
Circuit Judges.
Robert LeBlanc on brief pro se.
Scott Harshbarger, Attorney General, and Gregory I. Massing,
Assistant Attorney General, on brief for appellee.
OCTOBER 16. 1996
Per Curiam. We have carefully examined the record in
this case, including the briefs of the parties and the
opinion of the district court below. Essentially for the
reasons given by the district court in its opinion, LeBlanc
v. Duval, 900 F.Supp. 538 (D.Mass. 1996), we agree with the
district court's conclusion that the jury instruction
constituted harmless error and that petitioner was not denied
effective assistance of counsel. Accordingly, the order
denying petitioner's request for habeas corpus relief is
affirmed.1
1
1The "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1
1996" (Pub. L. 104-32) was signed into law while this appeal
was pending. We need not determine to what extent the Act's
amendments govern this case since, even under the more
expansive scope of review prior to the Act, LeBlanc is not
entitled to relief.
-2-