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UNITED STATES v. PRICE (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.2021-04-19No. No. 20-1330

Summary

Holding. The court granted the government's motion to enforce the appeal waiver and dismissed the appeal.

Rodney Price pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and received a fifty-five-month sentence within the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range. His plea agreement contained a broad waiver of appellate rights. When Price filed a notice of appeal despite this waiver, the government moved to dismiss the appeal and enforce the waiver provision.

The court applied a three-part test to determine whether the waiver should be enforced: whether the appeal fell within the waiver's scope, whether Price knowingly and voluntarily agreed to the waiver, and whether enforcing it would cause a miscarriage of justice. Finding all three conditions satisfied, the court enforced the waiver. The court also rejected Price's claims that the prosecutor breached the plea agreement by failing to support his variance motion—the prosecutor had recommended the agreed-upon sentence at the hearing, which satisfied the contractual obligation. Price's allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, though potentially raisable, cannot be pursued on direct appeal under the terms of his waiver but remain available through collateral attack procedures.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Enforceability of appellate rights waivers in plea agreements
  • Whether prosecutor breached plea agreement by not actively supporting variance motion
  • Availability of prosecutorial misconduct claims on direct appeal versus collateral review

Procedural posture

The government moved to enforce an appeal waiver and dismiss an appeal filed by a defendant who had pleaded guilty and agreed to waive appellate rights.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

Rodney Price pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony. The district court sentenced him to serve fifty-five months in prison, a term falling within the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range of fifty-one to sixty-three months. The plea agreement included a broad waiver of Mr. Prices appellate rights. Yet he has filed a notice of appeal. The government now moves to enforce the appeal waiver and to dismiss this appeal.

We will enforce an appeal waiver if (1) “the disputed appeal falls within” the waivers scope; (2) “the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights”; and (3) enforcing the waiver would not “result in a miscarriage of justice.” United States v. Hahn, 359 F.3d 1315, 1325 (10th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (per curiam). The government argues that all three of these circumstances exist in this case.

Mr. Prices defense counsel responded to the governments motion, asserting that any opposition to the motion would be frivolous and moving to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). Counsel did, however, identify two potential issues. First, counsel says that Mr. Price believes the government breached the plea agreement by failing to fully support his motion for a downward variance. And second, counsel tells us that Mr. Prices allegations may “raise the specter of prosecutorial misconduct.” Resp. at 12. We sent a copy of counsels response to Mr. Price and gave him a chance to file his own response. The deadline for Mr. Price to respond has passed, and we have not received anything from him.

After reviewing the record, we conclude that Mr. Prices appeal waiver should be enforced under Hahn. In other words, the appeal falls within the scope of Mr. Prices waiver, his waiver was knowing and voluntary, and enforcing the waiver would not result in a miscarriage of justice.

The prosecutor did not breach the plea agreement, conduct that would render the appeal waiver unenforceable, see United States v. Doe, 865 F.3d 1295, 1301 (10th Cir. 2017). In the plea agreement, the prosecutor agreed to support Mr. Prices motion for a downward variance and to recommend a twenty-seven-month prison sentence. These promises are listed in the presentence report. When a presentence report contains the prosecutors recommendations, the prosecutor need not “allocute in favor of specific adjustments in the defendants sentence.” United States v. Smith, 140 F.3d 1325, 1327 (10th Cir. 1998). It is enough that “the prosecutor does not allocute against an agreed-upon adjustment.” Id. At the sentencing hearing in this case, the prosecutor did not advocate against the sentence that he had agreed to recommend. Quite the contrary, he explained why he thought a twenty-seven-month sentence “would result in justice in the big picture.” R. vol. 3 at 58.

To the extent Mr. Price wishes to pursue a claim of prosecutorial misconduct, he may not do so in a direct appeal. Mr. Price waived “the right to appeal any matter in connection with” his case. Id. vol. 1 at 15. This waiver contained three exceptions, but as defense counsel points out, none of them apply. And so the waiver forecloses any prosecutorial-misconduct claim on direct appeal. Although Mr. Prices plea agreement required him to waive his right to collaterally attack his conviction or sentence, the agreement contains an exception preserving his right to pursue a collateral attack on the ground that he “was prejudiced by prosecutorial misconduct.” Id. at 16. Mr. Price therefore must raise any prosecutorial-misconduct claim in collateral proceedings rather than in a direct appeal.

We grant the governments motion to enforce the appeal waiver, grant defense counsels motion to withdraw, and dismiss this appeal.

Per Curiam