United States v. Caste

317 F. App'x 162
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedDecember 3, 2008
Docket07-3319
StatusUnpublished

This text of 317 F. App'x 162 (United States v. Caste) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Caste, 317 F. App'x 162 (3d Cir. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Felix Caste appeals his July 25, 2007 sentence. Because Caste executed a valid appellate waiver, we decline to exercise our jurisdiction to hear this appeal and affirm the judgment of the District Court.

*164 I.

Because we write solely for the parties, we will address only those facts necessary to our opinion.

Caste was charged with possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). According to the facts adduced at the plea hearing and contained in the Pre-Sentence Report (PSR), Caste was found to be in possession of seven compact discs containing several hundred still images and six video clips depicting child pornography and a computer that contained traces of previously deleted child pornography.

On June 18, 2007, Caste entered into a plea agreement with the Government. The agreement contained a provision stating that Caste waives the right to take a direct appeal from his conviction or sentence unless the Government files an appeal first, the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum for the offense to which he pled guilty, or the sentence unreasonably exceeds the recommended Guidelines range. The District Court, before Caste’s formal guilty plea, held a hearing during which it verified that Caste had read and understood the plea agreement.

On July 25, 2007, after hearing arguments from both sides and explicitly following the three-step sentencing process described in United States v. Gunter, 462 F.3d 237 (3d Cir.2006), the District Court sentenced Caste to 46 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by supervised release for life. Caste filed a timely appeal, arguing that his sentence was procedurally unreasonable and that the District Court violated his procedural due process rights during sentencing.

II.

The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. This Court has appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). See United States v. Gwinnett, 483 F.3d 200, 203 (3d Cir.2007) (“[T]his court retains subject matter jurisdiction over [an] appeal by a defendant who [has] signed an appellate waiver.”). We review the validity of appellate waivers de novo. See United States v. Khattak, 273 F.3d 557, 560 (3d Cir.2001).

In addressing the validity of an appellate waiver, this Court considers whether the waiver was knowing and voluntary, whether one of the specific exceptions set forth in the plea agreement prevents enforcement of the waiver, and whether enforcement of the waiver would work a “miscarriage of justice.” United States v. Jackson, 523 F.3d 234, 243-44 (3d Cir.2008); see also Khattak, 273 F.3d at 563 (“Waivers of appeal, if entered into knowingly and voluntarily, are valid, unless they work a miscarriage of justice.”). Appellant bears the burden of establishing that the appellate waiver should not be enforced. See Khattak, 273 F.3d at 562-63.

The record clearly demonstrates that Caste knowingly and voluntarily executed the waiver. The language of the plea agreement is “clear as to its purpose and effect” to bind Caste and the Government to its provisions. See Gwinnett, 483 F.3d at 203-04. The plea agreement unambiguously states that, notwithstanding certain exceptions, Caste “waives the right to take a direct appeal from his conviction or sentence ... [and] further waives the right to file a motion to vacate sentence ... and the right to file any other collateral proceeding attacking his conviction or sentence.” The Rule 11 colloquy provides further evidence that the waiver was valid. See Khattak, 273 F.3d at 563 (“In determining whether a waiver of appeal is ‘knowing and voluntary,’ the role of the sentencing judge is critical.”). During that *165 colloquy, the District Court confirmed that Caste signed the plea agreement and that he had reviewed it with his attorney. The District Court specifically verified that Caste understood that he “entered into a plea agreement under which [he has] waived some or all of [his] appeal rights, including the right to file a motion to vacate sentence or any other collateral proceeding attacking [his] conviction or sentence.”

As Caste validly waived his right to appeal, we must now determine whether one of the specific exceptions set forth in the plea agreement prevents enforcement of the waiver. They clearly do not. The Government has not filed an appeal. The sentence of 46 months, followed by supervised release for life, does not exceed the statutory maximum and is at the bottom of the advisory Guidelines range of 46-57 months. Thus, Caste’s appeal is not permitted under the specific exceptions listed in the plea agreement.

Having established that Caste’s waiver of appeal was knowing and voluntary and that none of the plea agreement’s exceptions is applicable, we must now determine whether this case presents one of the “unusual circumstance[s]” where enforcement of the waiver would work a “miscarriage of justice.” See Khattak, 273 F.3d at 562; Gwinnett, 483 F.3d at 203. The miscarriage of justice determination is open ended and depends on factors such as “ ‘[the] clarity of the error, its gravity, its character (e.g., whether it concerns a fact issue, a sentencing guideline, or a statutory maximum), the impact of the error on the defendant, the impact of correcting the error on the government, and the extent to which the defendant acquiesced in the result.’ ” Khattak, 273 F.3d at 563 (quoting United States v. Teeter, 257 F.3d 14, 25-26 (1st Cir.2001)).

Caste argues that enforcement of the appellate waiver would work a miscarriage of justice because his sentence of imprisonment and supervised release was unreasonable. This Court has noted that, in light of Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007), and its “deferential abuse-of-discretion standard for reviewing sentencing appeals, it will be a rare and unusual situation when claims of an unreasonable sentence, standing alone, will be sufficient to invalidate a waiver because of a miscarriage of justice.” Jackson, 523 F.3d at 244.

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Related

Osborne v. Ohio
495 U.S. 103 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Teeter
257 F.3d 14 (First Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Jerry Joseph Laverne
963 F.2d 235 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Basil Ketcham
80 F.3d 789 (Third Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Gul Khan Khattak
273 F.3d 557 (Third Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Norma Burgos-Andjar
275 F.3d 23 (First Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Johnny Gunter
462 F.3d 237 (Third Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Angelica Gwinnett
483 F.3d 200 (Third Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Ausburn
502 F.3d 313 (Third Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Jackson
523 F.3d 234 (Third Circuit, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
317 F. App'x 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-caste-ca3-2008.