
    Edward Joseph LUCAS, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Patrick CONROY; Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents-Appellees.
    No. 02-7683.
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted Jan. 16, 2003.
    Decided Jan. 27, 2003.
    Edward Joseph Lucas, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. John Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General, Mary Ann Rapp Ince, Office of the ATtorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.
    Before WILLIAMS, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
   PER CURIAM.

Edward Joseph Lucas, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying relief on his petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000). An appeal may not be taken from the final order in a habeas corpus proceeding unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2000). A certificate of appealability will not issue for claims addressed by a district court on the merits absent “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2000). We have reviewed the record and conclude for the reasons stated by the district court that Lucas has not met this standard. See Lucas v. Conroy, No. CA-02-388-AMD (D.Md. Oct. 22, 2002). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. 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.  