Pham

MEMORANDUM ***

Petitioner Vu A. Pham appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging his California state conviction, all for first-degree murder. We granted a certificate of appealability on February 22, 2005 owing Petitioner to appeal the district court’s denial of his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s alleged failure to investigate and present evidence that Petitioner suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”).

As an initial matter, we consider the issue of our jurisdiction over this appeal. Respondent argues that we lack jurisdiction because Petitioner’s notice of appeal was not filed within thirty days after judgment was entered. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1)(A). Petitioner filed a lodgment of notice of appeal in August 2003, requesting that the notice of appeal “be filed upon the Court entering its Judgment.” The district court entered judgment denying the habeas petition on September 24, 2004, and ten days later it filed an order interpreting Petitioner’s earlier notice of appeal as being effective as of the date of judgment. Under these circumstances, we hold that Petitioner’s premature…