Cite as: 528 U. S. 259 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
he received appointed counsel. His appointed counsel, concluding that an appeal would be frivolous, filed with the California Court of Appeal a brief that complied with the Wende procedure.2 Robbins also availed himself of his right under Wende to file a pro se supplemental brief, filing a brief in which he contended that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction and that the prosecutor violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (1963), by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence.
The California Court of Appeal, agreeing with counsel's assessment of the case, affirmed. The court explained that it had "examined the entire record" and had, as a result, concluded both that counsel had fully complied with his responsibilities under Wende and that "no arguable issues exist." App. 39. The court added that the two issues that Robbins raised in his supplemental brief had no support in the record. Ibid. The California Supreme Court denied Robbins' petition for review.
After exhausting state postconviction remedies, Robbins filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 2254.3 Robbins renewed his Brady claim, argued that the state trial court had erred by not allowing him to withdraw his waiver of his right to trial counsel, and added nine other claims of trial error. In addition, and most importantly for present purposes, he claimed that he had been denied effective assistance of appellate counsel because his appellate counsel's Wende brief failed to comply with Anders v. California, 386 U. S., at 744. Anders
2 Before filing his Wende brief, counsel consulted with the California Appellate Project for the Second District Court of Appeal and received its permission to file such a brief. App. 43.
3 The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, 110 Stat. 1214, which amended § 2254 and related provisions, does not apply to respondent's habeas petition, since he filed his petition before that Act's effective date of April 24, 1996. See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U. S. 320 (1997).
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