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Waiver of Appeal

By: Derek Hawkins//November 29, 2016//

Waiver of Appeal

By: Derek Hawkins//November 29, 2016//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Darryl Anthony Worthen

Case No.: 15-3521

Officials: RIPPLE, KANNE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges

Focus: Waiver of Appeal

Appellant waived right to appeal sentence in plea agreement

“Before we can address this argument, Worthen must convince us that he has not waived his right to an appeal. Gener‐ ally speaking, appeal waivers are enforceable and preclude appellate review. United States v. Sines, 303 F.3d 793, 798 (7th Cir. 2002). Even so, we have recognized a few narrow exceptions to this rule—one of which is that a defendant may al‐ ways contest a sentence that exceeds the statutory maximum for the crime committed. United States v. Smith, 759 F.3d 702, 706 (7th Cir. 2014). This makes perfect sense. When a defend‐ ant pleads guilty to a crime and waives his right to an appeal, he acquiesces to the court’s discretion to impose a sentence that he knows will fall within a specified statutory range. In‐ deed, that’s what makes the waiver knowing and intelligent, and thus enforceable. But if the court disregards that permissible sentencing range and imposes a sentence exceeding that which the defendant knew was the harshest penalty he could receive, then there is no knowing and intelligent waiver at all.”

Appeal Dismissed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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