Does a notice of appeal constitute a request for a certificate of probable cause?

In a more recent decision, Lara v. Nelson, supra, 449 F.2d at 324, the court stated that where "the district court has failed to act upon an application for a certificate of probable cause for a period of 90 days after the application has been filed, we deem the application to have been denied and consider the notice of appeal to constitute a request for a certificate of probable cause addressed to the judges of the court of appeals." In the present case, however, appellant did not request this certificate from the district judge. Therefore, it cannot be said that the judge denied his request or failed to act upon it. Since the holding of Lara appears based upon the failure of the district judge to respond to a specific request for a certificate (the court even suggested that in the absence of such a request a district judge has no duty to act, see id.), the decision is not directly applicable to the issues confronting us.