appellate-waiver
57 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6731 | Keith Lashon Bell v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2026-02-05 | Pending | IFP | appellate-waiver consideration contract-law criminal-procedure judicial-interpretation plea-agreement | Whether general contract principles, such as the requirement of consideration, and negotiated exclusive remedies, apply to the enforcement of appellat… |
| 25-6710 | Jose Ramon Castillo-Lopez v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2026-02-04 | Pending | IFP | appellate-waiver federal-sentencing fifth-circuit guilty-plea plea-agreement withdrawal-of-plea | 1. Based on his plea agreement's boilerplate waiver of most appellate rights, the Fifth Circuit dismissed Petitioner's challenge to his federal senten… |
| 25-6627 | Gerald Blaise II v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2026-01-20 | Pending | IFP | appellate-waiver civil-rights-restoration felony-possession firearm-statute guilty-plea mens-rea | 1. Whether a defendant previously convicted of a felony offense violates 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) & 924(a)(2) when, at the time that he possesses a fire… |
| 25-6136 | Damien Antione Jones v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2025-11-17 | Pending | IFP | appellate-waiver collateral-review constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement | Petitioner is serving a sentence for an offense that was later declared unconstitutional by this Court in United States v. Davis, 588 U.S. 445 (2019),… |
| 25-79 | Ton Ton Aquino v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2025-07-22 | Pending | appellate-waiver circuit-split sentencing-conditions sex-offender-registration supervised-release unlawful-sentencing | Whether it is unlawful for a court to impose sex offender registration as a condition of supervised release for a non-qualifying offense, and to enfor… | |
| 24-6630 | Amado De La Mora Cardenas v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-02-24 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appellate-waiver criminal-defendant district-court legal-error plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines | The question presented in this Petition for Writ of Certiorari is whether a criminal defendant may prospectively waive the right to appeal the Distric… |
| 24-6261 | Thaddeus J. Culpepper v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-01-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver constitutional-rights guilty-plea plea-agreement pretrial-detention voluntariness | Does an appellate waiver in a plea agreement, that specifically excepts challenges to the voluntariness of a guilty plea, bar the appellate argument t… |
| 24-5164 | Joel Miles v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2024-07-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeals appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-procedure due-process federal-appeal judicial-review miscarriage-of-justice sentencing waiver | Whether appellate waivers in federal criminal cases contain an implied exception for judgments that represent a miscarriage of justice? |
| 23-7595 | Daniel Levi v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-05-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-appeal due-process liberty-interest ninth-circuit plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines voluntary-consent | The Ninth Circuit dismissed Mr. Levi's criminal appeal due to an appellate waiver in the plea agreement. Mr. Levi argues that the appellate waiver in … |
| 23-7542 | Anthony Obute v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2024-05-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-rights appellate-waiver controlled-substance criminal-procedure pharmacy-operations plea-agreement sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation | Does a defendant's waiver of appellate rights in a plea agreement, which explicitly reserves the right to challenge the constitutionality of a statute… |
| 23-7226 | Michael Lee Villamonte v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-04-15 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-procedure due-process federal-courts miscarriage-of-justice plea-agreement plea-bargaining | Did the Ninth Circuit's disposition of Petitioner's request to recognize a miscarriage of justice exception to the appellate waiver doctrine conflict … |
| 23-6754 | Rodwick F. Abadam v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-02-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 2nd-amendment appellate-review appellate-waiver constitutional-violation miscarriage-of-justice plea-agreement second-amendment sentencing sentencing-error | 1. Did the Ninth Circuit err when it failed to find that sentencing errors that violated Mr. Abadam's Second Amendment rights can amount to a "miscarr… |
| 23-720 | Omar Ahmed Khadr v. United States | District of Columbia | 2024-01-04 | Denied | Amici (1) | appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-conduct direct-appeal judicial-decision plea-agreement statutory-interpretation | Plea agreements often include a general waiver of the right to appeal. Circuits are divided over whether the inclusion of such a term bars a defendant… |
| 23-5858 | Anthony Schneider v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-10-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-procedure guilty-plea jurisdictional-challenge jurisdictional-challenges plea-bargaining supreme-court-precedent united-states-v-goodall united-states-v-taylor | A guilty plea that includes an appellate waiver does not bar jurisdictional challenges on appeal. Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018). The f… |
| 23-5834 | Herbert Johnson v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-10-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924c appellate-waiver categorical-analysis criminal-procedure illegal-conviction illegal-sentence jurisdictional-challenge plea-agreement statutory-interpretation | For convictions and sentences to stand, they must not violate the Constitution. Challenges to illegal 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) convictions necessarily encom… |
| 23A319 | Omar Ahmed Khadr v. United States | District of Columbia | 2023-10-12 | Presumed Complete | appellate-waiver circuit-split material-support-for-terrorism military-commission-review military-commissions-act plea-agreement | Question not identified. | |
| 22-7361 | Demonte Tretion Kelly v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-04-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-waiver appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-procedure due-process intellectual-disability miscarriage-of-justice sentencing-guidelines | Whether appellate waivers in federal criminal cases contain and implied exception for miscarriage of justice. |
| 22-6916 | Carlos Mejia-Quintanilla v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-03-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process jurisdiction jurisdictional-claim plea-agreement plea-bargaining summary-enforcement | L. The first question for this Court's review is whether courts can summarily enforce an appellate waiver to bar motions to vacate convictions that ar… |
| 22-6656 | Randy Lee Stapleton v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-01-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver circuit-split constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process guilty-plea ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel miscarriage-of-justice motion-to-withdraw | After learning of the objective evidence (body camera video footage) documenting an unlawful warrantless search and seizure, the defendant moved to wi… |
| 22-6253 | Michael J. Moller, aka Michael Robinson v. United States | First Circuit | 2022-12-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver certiorari criminal-procedure district-court due-process paycheck-protection-program plea-bargaining sentencing sophisticated-means-enhancement standard-of-review | 1. Should certiorari be granted to address the enforceability of an appellate waiver where the District Court's entire inquiry consisted of a single q… |
| 22-6095 | Owen Garth Hinkson v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-11-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | aggravated-felony appellate-waiver constitutional-challenge criminal-procedure due-process immigration immigration-law ineffective-assistance sentencing sentencing-enhancement vacated-conviction | Whether the district court can sentence Mr. Owen Garth Hinkson, to a statute of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), 20 years imprisonment when his 1987 Massachuset… |
| 22-5890 | Ronald William Brooks v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-10-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process habeas-corpus miscarriage-of-justice plea-agreement plea-bargaining post-conviction-relief section-2255 | Whether the boilerplate waiver of Petitioner's appellate and post-conviction rights contained within his plea agreement bars his claim under 28 U.S.C.… |
| 22-5111 | Robert Doyle Harper v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-07-15 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appeals appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-law defendant-rights due-process federal-courts federal-criminal-procedure judicial-review miscarriage-of-justice waiver | Whether appellate waivers in federal criminal cases contain an implied exception for judgments that represent a miscarriage of justice? |
| 21-8201 | Judel Espinoza-Gonzalez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2022-06-22 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appellate-waiver constitutional-violation conviction-review criminal-procedure district-court-authority due-process jurisdictional-challenge mandatory-minimum mandatory-sentence sentencing unconstitutional-conviction | L. A guilty plea that includes an appellate waiver does not bar jurisdictional challenges on appeal. Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018). Th… |
| 21-7735 | Erskin Bernard Perryman v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2022-04-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-waiver appellate-waiver base-offense-level criminal-procedure due-process judicial-review minor-participant plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines sixth-circuit | The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals erroneously granted the Government's Motion to Dismiss and refused to address whether the trial court calculated th… |
| 21-7575 | Keith Morris v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2022-04-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-procedure due-process knowing-waiver plea-agreement plea-bargaining right-to-appeal sentencing waiver | Whether a provision in a plea agreement which bars a defendant from appealing "any sentence of imprisonment" can be knowingly entered into well before… |
| 21-7353 | Alejandro Chavarria v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-03-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-procedure federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure government-estoppel judicial-error plea-agreement rule-32 sentencing | 1. Whether a trial judge's erroneous FED. R. CRIM. P. 32(j)(1)(B) advice regarding the defendant's right to appeal his sentence, and the Government's … |
| 21-6730 | Mehmet Fatih Biyikoglu v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-12-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver breach-of-contract criminal-procedure district-court due-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining sentencing | Was petitioner's appellate waiver enforceable after the district court found him in breach of his plea? |
| 21-6656 | Azizjon Rakhmatov v. United States | Second Circuit | 2021-12-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process equal-protection guilty-plea plea-agreement right-to-appeal right-to-counsel sentencing-bias | Whether a sentence based on racial and ethnic bias can be appealed pursuant to the Constitutional rights to due process and equal protection of the la… |
| 21-5801 | Carlos Benitez Penalosa v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-09-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-sentencing miscarriage-of-justice plain-error plea-agreement sentencing-error | Did the Ninth Circuit err when it failed to find that a sentencing error can amount to a "miscarriage of justice" allowing appellate review even if th… |
| 21-5196 | Shalen Stoltz v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-07-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-appeal due-process liberty-interest plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines | The Ninth Circuit dismissed Ms. Stoltz' criminal appeal due to an appellate waiver in the plea agreement. Ms. Stoltz argues that the appellate waiver … |
| 20-8204 | Severiano Martinez-Rojas v. United States | Second Circuit | 2021-06-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-procedure judicial-review plea-bargaining restitution restitution-calculation sentencing sentencing-procedure vulnerable-victim-enhancement | I. Whether the Second Circuit failed to follow Supreme Court precedent in Rosales-Mireles v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1897, 1900 (2018) when it enfor… |
| 20-1595 | Naum Morgovsky and Irina Morgovsky v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-05-17 | Denied | appellate-waiver arms-export-control-act class-v-united-states constitutional-challenge criminal-procedure criminal-statute executive-authority intelligible-principle rule-12(b)(3) separation-of-powers | 1. Whether the Executive had the authority to issue the regulations under which the Morgovskys were convicted; if so, whether those regulations and th… | |
| 20-7705 | Marco Antonio Serrano v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2021-04-09 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver career-offender district-court-error due-process mandatory-application plea-agreement sentencing-enhancement sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment | 1. Can a plea agreement that includes an appellate waiver lawfully deprive a defendant of his right to appeal a sentence that was based on the distric… |
| 20-1352 | Alexander Christian Miles v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2021-03-25 | Denied | Response Waived | appellate-waiver collateral-attack collateral-attack-waiver contract-interpretation contract-law judicial-interpretation plea-agreement plea-colloquy | Whether oral pronouncements by the court or the government at a plea colloquy which clarify the extent of an appellate and collateral attack waiver in… |
| 20-7488 | William Douglas Hampton v. Mark Williams, Warden | Fifth Circuit | 2021-03-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver civil-rights commerce-clause constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process electronic-fraud free-speech plea-agreement standing statutory-interpretation | 1) DOES 28 UNITED STATES CODE SERUICE $2LHI's. SPECIFIC WORDING PERMIT THE JUDICIAL SUBMISSION AND CONSIDERATION OFA HABEAS CORPUS IFTHE STATUTE'S SUB… |
| 20-7449 | Michael Nunez, aka Gordo v. United States | Second Circuit | 2021-03-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 3553(a) 3553a-factors appellate-review appellate-waiver constitutional-review due-process judicial-bias judicial-discretion plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-bias | Whether a sentence imposed by an apparently biased judge, based on material falsehood, disregard of the 3553(a) factors, legally unfounded fixed polic… |
| 20-6985 | Zongli Chang v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2021-01-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver constitutional-rights due-process fines plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment statutory-maximum | In a plea agreement that was tied to a fine guideline range, the Petitioner was never told his "maximal possible penalty" in terms of fine and forfeit… |
| 20-5785 | Michael Hunter Cook v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-09-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver circuit-split civil-procedure consideration contract contract-law due-process judicial-review standing | Whether, consistent with due process, an appellate court may enforce an appellate waiver unsupported by consideration. |
| 19-8572 | Roland Chambers, aka Troy Chambers v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2020-05-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-rights appellate-waiver collateral-relief criminal-sentencing judicial-integrity judicial-process plea-agreement plea-agreements sentencing-rights statutory-entitlement | Are broad waivers of appellate rights lawful and, if so, what are the limits on their validity and enforcement? |
| 19-7575 | Rashaun Scott Carter v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-02-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver controlled-substance controlled-substances criminal-procedure due-process guilty-plea ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-bargaining presentence-investigation sentencing | Does an appellate waiver bar an appeal based upon a flawed, prejudicial presentence investigation report performed between the trial court's acceptanc… |
| 19-7126 | Ronald Damon v. United States | Third Circuit | 2019-12-31 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3583 5th-amendment appeal appellate-waiver circuit-split due-process due-process-clause plea-agreement post-conviction-waiver sentencing supervised-release | Whether an appellate and post-conviction waiver in a plea agreement barring challenges to the "sentence imposed" precludes an appeal of the denial of … |
| 19-6712 | Adam Scott Caward v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-11-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-procedure appellate-waiver circuit-split civil-procedure criminal-procedure due-process judicial-discretion legal-interpretation miscarriage-of-justice sentencing standing | Whether the Court should adopt the rule espoused in the First, Third, Fourth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits, which hold that an appellate court can decline… |
| 19-6615 | Jayvonne Johnson v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2019-11-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-rights appellate-rights appellate-waiver collateral-relief criminal-sentencing due-process involuntary-waiver judicial-integrity judicial-process plea-agreement plea-agreements statutory-entitlement statutory-rights | Are broad waivers of appellate rights lawful and, if so, what are the limits on their validity and enforcement? |
| 19-6485 | Ryan Van Stevenson v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-11-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-procedure discretion due-process due-process,appellate-waiver,abuse-of-discretion,s evidence-standard extrinsic-evidence judicial-discretion preponderance-of-the-evidence sentencing-enhancement | Did the Court abuse it's discretion when it enforced an appellate waiver on an issue that was outside the scope of the appellate waiver's provisions? … |
| 18-9672 | Jill Andras LeBlanc v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2019-06-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-rights appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-sentencing due-process involuntary-waiver judicial-integrity judicial-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining sentencing-procedure statutory-rights | The right to appeal a criminal sentence is a statutory entitlement under 18 U.S.C. § 3742. But in many federal jurisdictions—including the Eastern Dis… |
| 18-9407 | Humberto Verduzco-Magana v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-05-23 | Denied | IFP | appeal appellate-waiver circuit-court conformity judgment-correction oral-pronouncement sentence-modification sentencing written-judgment | Whether a written appellate waiver giving up the right to appeal any portion of the sentence waive the right to ask the Circuit to conform the written… |
| 18-8915 | Jonathan Zepeda v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-04-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3006a appellate-waiver criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-appeal due-process fifth-amendment independent-counsel judicial-manipulation sentencing sixth-amendment standing waiver | As matters of first impression: Whether a n individual 's challenge to the constitutionality of his sentence and case proceedings in a criminal prose… |
| 18-8829 | Leonid Djuga, aka Leonid Dzhuga v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2019-04-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-rights appellate-waiver circuit-split criminal-sentencing due-process involuntary-waiver judicial-integrity judicial-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining statutory-rights | Are broad waivers of appellate rights lawful and, if so, what are the limits on their validity and enforcement? |
| 18-8198 | Brandon Lisi v. United States | Second Circuit | 2019-02-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver conflict-of-interest criminal-procedure curcio-hearing guilty-plea ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-bargaining plea-withdrawal sentencing sentencing-challenge | Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit committed reversible error by denying Petitioner's timely filed Petition for Reheari… |
| 18-7639 | Caster Delaney Whetstone v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-01-29 | Denied | IFP | appellate-waiver armed-career-criminal armed-career-criminal-act circuit-split illegal-sentence plea-agreement sentencing statutory-maximum | Whether a defendant's challenge to his status as an armed career criminal, where the sentence is in excess of the otherwise applicable statutory maxim… |
| 18-7593 | Richard Michael Sanchez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-01-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver consecutive-sentence criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process legal-interpretation plea-agreement sentencing | 1. Does a plea agreement's limited appellate waiver preclude a defendant's challenge of a decision to impose a consecutive sentence where the appellat… |
| 18-7079 | Franklyn Morillo v. United States | First Circuit | 2018-12-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion appellate-waiver certiorari controlled-substances criminal-procedure district-court due-process first-impression first-impression' 'Should certiorari be granted i judicial-discretion knowing-intelligent-voluntary legal-standard plea-bargaining procedural-rights role-enhancement sentencing sentencing-guidelines standard-of-review' 'Should certiorari be granted | 1. Should certiorari be granted to decide whether a district court can only ask a Petitioner a single question about an appellate waiver, even though … |
| 18-7078 | Joseph O'Shaughnessy, aka Joseph D. O'Shaughnessy v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2018-12-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review appellate-waiver criminal-procedure due-process involuntary-plea judicial-review ninth-circuit-procedure plea-bargaining plea-voluntariness voluntariness waiver | The petitioner (criminal defendant below) claimed that his plea was involuntary, so therefore his appellate waiver was involuntary. The District Court… |
| 18-6141 | Damian O'Neil Towne v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2018-09-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-waiver criminal-procedure government-objection ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-review notice-of-appeal sentencing-error sentencing-guidelines sentencing-miscalculation untimely-notice-of-appeal | THIS COURT SHOULD GRANT CERTIORARI TO RESOLVE THE QUESTION OF WHETHER A GROSS MISCALCULATION OF THE SENTENCING GUIDELINE RANGE SHOULD BE CORRECTED WHE… |
| 18-6030 | Jason M. Smith v. United States | Second Circuit | 2018-09-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-waiver appellate-waiver collateral-attack constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement public-policy sentencing | In the decision under review, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that an appellate waiver provision in petitioner's plea a… |
| 18-288 | Philip A. Mearing v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2018-09-05 | Denied | Amici (3) | appellate-review appellate-waiver criminal-appeal criminal-defendant-waiver criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining restitution restitution-order sentencing sentencing-procedure statutory-interpretation | 1. Whether, or under what circumstances, a criminal defendant's waiver in his plea agreement of the right to appeal his "sentence" covers an appeal of… |