Opinion of the Court
Ortega show why that presumption applies equally here.
With regard to prejudice, Flores-Ortega held that, to succeed in an ineffective-assistance claim in this context, a defendant need make only one showing: “that, but for counsel’s deficient failure to consult with him about an appeal, he would have timely appealed.” 528 U. S., at 484. So long as a defendant can show that “counsel’s constitutionally deficient performance deprive[d him] of an appeal that he otherwise would have taken,” courts are to “presum[e] prejudice with no further showing from the defendant of the merits of his underlying claims.” Ibid. Because there is no dispute here that Garza wished to appeal, see supra, at 2, a direct application of Flores-Ortega’s language resolves this case. See 528 U. S., at 484.
Flores-Ortega’s reasoning shows why an appeal waiver does not complicate this straightforward application. That case, like this one, involves a lawyer who forfeited an appellate proceeding by failing to file a notice of appeal. Id., at 473–475. As the Court explained, given that past precedents call for a presumption of prejudice whenever “ ‘the accused is denied counsel at a critical stage,’ ” it makes even greater sense to presume prejudice when counsel’s deficiency forfeits an “appellate proceeding altogether.” Id., at 483. After all, there is no disciplined way to “accord any ‘presumption of reliability’… to judicial proceedings that never took place.” Ibid. (quoting Smith v. Robbins, 528 U. S. 259, 286 (2000)).
That rationale applies just as well here because, as discussed supra, at 4–6, Garza retained a right to appeal at least some issues despite the waivers he signed.[1] In other words, Garza had a right to a proceeding, and he
- ↑ Or the State might not have invoked the waiver at all. E. g., United States v. Archie, 771 F. 3d 217, 223, n. 2 (CA4 2014); State v. Rendon, 2012 WL 9492805, *1, n. 1 (Idaho Ct. App., May 11, 2012).
