Canales

Carlos Renan-Perez Canales appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition, in which he claimed ineffective assistance of counsel. Canales argued that his trial attorney’s late filing of a notice of appeal triggered a rule of presumed prejudice that entitles him to habeas relief. The district court determined that the Supreme Court had not clearly established a rule of presumed prejudice as a matter of federal law. See Canales v. Roe, 949 F.Supp. 762 (C.D.Cal.1996) (Canales I). It, therefore, denied the writ. We affirm, but on a different basis.

BACKGROUND

In February, 1993, Canales was convicted of first-degree murder in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles. Judgment was entered on March 15, 1993. His trial counsel attempted to appeal the conviction, but filed the notice of appeal on May 17, 1993, two days after expiration of the sixty day period prescribed by Rule 31(a) of the California Rules of Court governing appeals in criminal cases. On May 25, 1993, the superior court sent Canales a letter refusing to certify the case for appeal and directing him to seek *1228 relief from the California…