UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v. No. 97-7854

JEROME WALKER,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk.

Rebecca B. Smith, District Judge.

(CR-94-133, CA-97-758-2)

Submitted: September 15, 1998

Decided: October 29, 1998

Before MURNAGHAN and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and

HALL, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Jerome Walker, Appellant Pro Se. Kevin Michael Comstock, OFFICE

OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Norfolk, Virginia, for

Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant appeals the district court's order dismissing his motion

filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998), as barred

by the one-year limitation period imposed by the Antiterrorism and

Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat.

1214 (effective Apr. 24, 1996). Section 2255 states that petitioners for

collateral relief have one year from "the date on which the judgment

of conviction becomes final" to file a motion under that statute.

Appellant's § 2255 motion was dated July 28, 1997, and filed July 31.

Because the district court found that Appellant's judgment became

final on the date of this court's affirmance of his convictions and sentence (July 25, 1996), the district court dismissed Appellant's motion

as untimely.

However, a conviction becomes "final," for purposes of § 2255, on

the date when the petitioner could no longer seek direct review. See

United States v. Simmonds, 111 F.3d 737, 744 (10th Cir. 1997)

(deciding that conviction became final after the Supreme Court

denied certiorari); see also 28 U.S.C.A.§ 2244 (West 1994 & Supp.

1998) (providing, for motions attacking state court convictions, that

a judgment becomes "final by the conclusion of direct review or the

expiration of the time for seeking such review"). An appellant's direct

review procedure terminates when his or her petition for certiorari is

denied or when the deadline for seeking a writ of certiorari has

expired. See Lambrix v. Singletary, 520 U.S. 518 (1997) (determining

finality for purposes of Teague v. Lane); Allen v. Hardy, 478 U.S.

255, 258 n.1 (1986) (same).

Because Appellant did not file a petition for a writ of certiorari, his

judgment was not final until 90 days after this court rendered its opinion, or October 23, 1996. See Sup. Ct. R. 13(1). Appellant's motion

was, therefore, not time barred, as he indisputably filed it before the

October 23, 1997, deadline. Accordingly, we grant a certificate of

appealability, vacate the district court's order, and remand for further

proceedings. 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.

VACATED AND REMANDED

 2