
    Eddie Dean PANNELL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ronald J. ANGELONE, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.
    No. 01-7379.
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted Feb. 21, 2002.
    Decided March 4, 2002.
    
      Eddie Dean Pannell, Appellant Pro Se. Robert H. Anderson, III, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, VA, for Appellee.
    Before WILKINS, MOTZ, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
   PER CURIAM.

Eddie Dean Pannell appeals the district court’s order denying his 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp.2001) petition as untimely filed. We have reviewed the record, the district court’s opinion, and Pannell’s informal appellate brief. Because Pannell failed to challenge on appeal the basis for the district court’s ruling, he has not preserved this issue for our review. 4th Cir. R. 34(b). In any event, it is clear that the district court correctly found Pannell’s § 2254 petition untimely. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. We also deny Pannell’s motion for appointment of counsel. 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.  