What are the consequences of delays in appointing qualified counsel for habeas corpus?

delays occur when this court locates and appoints qualified counsel for habeas corpus, allows ample time for counsel to prepare a petition, and then evaluates the resulting petition and successive petitions. But such delays are the product of a constitutional safeguard, not a constitutional defect [citations], because [they] assure[ ] careful review of the defendant's conviction and sentence. (People v. Anderson, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 606, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 575, 22 P.3d 347.)