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