United States v. Brittany Lyn Durkin

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: February 15, 2024
• Docket: 23-11957
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-11957 Document: 29-1 Date Filed: 02/15/2024 Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 23-11957 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus BRITTANY LYN DURKIN,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:22-cr-14068-AMC-2 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-11957 Document: 29-1 Date Filed: 02/15/2024 Page: 2 of 2

2 Opinion of the Court 23-11957

Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: The Government’s motion to dismiss this appeal pursuant to the appeal waiver in Appellant’s plea agreement is GRANTED. We will enforce a defendant’s waiver of the right to appeal if the waiver was made knowingly and voluntarily. United States v. Bush- ert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1351 (11th Cir. 1993). The “touchstone” for our determination on this issue is “whether it was clearly convey[ed]” to the defendant that she was giving up her right to appeal “under most circumstances.” United States v. Boyd, 975 F.3d 1185, 1192 (11th Cir. 2020) (alteration and emphasis in the original) (quotation omit- ted). The lower court satisfied this requirement at the change-of- plea hearing by referring to the plea agreement, reading key por- tions of the appeal waiver aloud and confirming with the defendant that she had read and understood the entire agreement, including the appeal waiver, and that she freely agreed to waive her right to appeal. See United States v. Weaver, 275 F.3d 1320, 1333 (11th Cir. 2001).