Can a defendant waive his right to appeal his sentence in a negotiated plea agreement?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Desantiago-Martinez, 38 F.3d 394 (9th Cir. 1992):

The majority allows the district court to shirk its duties under Rule 11 and Rule 32(a)(2) when a defendant's waiver of the right to appeal a sentence is contained in a plea agreement. While we have held that a defendant may waive his or her right to appeal in a negotiated plea agreement, United States v. Navarro-Botello, 912 F.2d 318, 319, 321-22 (9th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1488, 117 L.Ed.2d 629 (1992), such a waiver is valid only if it is made voluntarily and knowingly. Id. at 320-21. The majority reduces the analysis of whether or not a waiver of the right to appeal is knowing and voluntary to a cursory look at the plea agreement itself. Such an analysis is particularly inadequate when, as here, the waiver provision is confusingly worded and the defendant is not a native English speaker. Furthermore, the majority overlooks the district court's transgression of the clear language of Rule 32(a)(2), which says that a judge "shall advise the defendant of any right to appeal the sentence."

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