Filed: Oct. 31, 2018
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT October 31, 2018 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 18-3198 (D.C. No. 5:17-CR-40043-DDC-1) ADOLFO BARRAGAN-RODRIGUEZ, (D. Kan.) Defendant - Appellant. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before BRISCOE, O’BRIEN, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _ This matter is before the court on the government’s motion to enforce the appeal waiver contained in Adolfo
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT October 31, 2018 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 18-3198 (D.C. No. 5:17-CR-40043-DDC-1) ADOLFO BARRAGAN-RODRIGUEZ, (D. Kan.) Defendant - Appellant. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before BRISCOE, O’BRIEN, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _ This matter is before the court on the government’s motion to enforce the appeal waiver contained in Adolfo ..
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FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT October 31, 2018
_________________________________
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 18-3198
(D.C. No. 5:17-CR-40043-DDC-1)
ADOLFO BARRAGAN-RODRIGUEZ, (D. Kan.)
Defendant - Appellant.
_________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
_________________________________
Before BRISCOE, O’BRIEN, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
_________________________________
This matter is before the court on the government’s motion to enforce the
appeal waiver contained in Adolfo Barragan-Rodriguez’s plea agreement. We grant
the government motion to enforce the plea agreement and dismiss the appeal.
Barragan-Rodriguez pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to “a
violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), namely possession with the intent to distribute
and distribution of methamphetamine.” Mot. to Enforce, Ex. C (Plea Agmt.) at 1.
The statutory maximum penalty for this offense is not less than 120 months’
imprisonment and not more than life imprisonment. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A).
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines
of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for
its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
In the plea agreement, the parties agreed to a proposed sentence under Fed. R. Crim.
P. 11(c)(1)(C), in “[a] range of 120-192 months in prison, with each party given an
opportunity to argue for a controlling term of imprisonment within the proposed
range.” Plea Agmt. at 3. The district court sentenced Barragan-Rodriguez to 180
months’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and imposed a $100 special
assessment.
The plea agreement included the following waiver of Barragan-Rodriguez’s
appellate rights:
The defendant knowingly and voluntarily waives any right to appeal or
collaterally attack any matter in connection with this prosecution, his
conviction, or the components of the sentence to be imposed herein. . . .
The defendant is aware that 18 U.S.C. § 3742 affords him the right to
appeal the conviction and sentence imposed. By entering into this
agreement, the defendant knowingly waives any right to appeal a sentence
imposed in accordance with the sentence recommended by the parties under
Rule 11(c)(1)(C).
Id. at 6-7.
Despite the appeal waiver, Barragan-Rodriguez has filed a notice of appeal in
which he seeks to challenge the sentence as an abuse of discretion. The government
filed a motion to enforce the plea agreement under United States v. Hahn,
359 F.3d
1315 (10th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (per curiam).
In evaluating a motion to enforce, we consider: “(1) whether the disputed
appeal falls within the scope of the waiver of appellate rights; (2) whether the
defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights; and (3) whether
enforcing the waiver would result in a miscarriage of justice.”
Id. at 1325.
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Barragan-Rodriguez concedes that the first two Hahn factors are present—his
proposed appeal falls within the scope of the waiver and he knowingly and
voluntarily waived his appellate rights. His argument is that the “sentence of 180
months imprisonment constitutes a miscarriage of justice based on his age, poor
health, and immigration status. It is also disproportionate to the sentences handed
down to other persons who were convicted in this case.” Resp. at 2. According to
Barragan-Rodriguez, “[a] downward variance below the guideline sentence, but
within the range agreed upon by the parties, was appropriate in this case.”
Id. at 2-3.
Barragan-Rodriguez has the burden to demonstrate that enforcement of his
appeal waiver would result in a miscarriage of justice. See United States v.
Anderson,
374 F.3d 955, 959 (10th Cir. 2004). We will find that enforcement of an
appeal waiver results in a miscarriage of justice only “[1] where the district court
relied on an impermissible factor such as race, [2] where ineffective assistance of
counsel in connection with the negotiation of the waiver renders the waiver invalid,
[3] where the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum, or [4] where the waiver is
otherwise unlawful.”
Hahn, 359 F.3d at 1327 (internal quotation marks omitted).
“This list is exclusive: enforcement of an appellate waiver does not result in a
miscarriage of justice unless enforcement would result in one of the four situations
enumerated above.” United States v. Polly,
630 F.3d 991, 1001 (10th Cir. 2011)
(internal quotation marks omitted).
But Barragan-Rodriguez does not invoke any of the miscarriage-of-justice
factors. As such, there is no miscarriage of justice. See
id. at 1002. Further, his
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argument that the appropriate sentence should have below the guidelines, but within
the agreed-upon range, makes no sense. As the district court explained, the plea
agreement allowed any sentence in the range between 120 and 192 months, and the
undisputed guideline period was 188 to 235 months. The sentence Barragan-
Rodriguez says is “appropriate” is the sentence he received because 180 months’
imprisonment is below the guidelines and within the agreed-upon range.
We agree with the government that Barragan-Rodriguez’s appeal falls within
the scope of his appeal waiver, his waiver was knowing and voluntary, and
enforcement of the waiver will not result in a miscarriage of justice. Accordingly, we
grant the government’s motion to dismiss this appeal.
Entered for the Court
Per Curiam
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