UNITED STATES v. DAVIS (2018)

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dexter DAVIS, a.k.a. Stump, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 17-14765-HH

Decided: July 24, 2018

Before: WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR and JORDAN Circuit Judges. Lindsay Feinberg, U.S. Attorney Service—Middle District of Georgia, U.S. Attorney's Office, Macon, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellee Barry Debrow, Jr., Tim Saviello, Federal Public Defender's Office, Columbus, GA, Jonathan Dodson, Christina Lee Hunt, Federal Public Defender's Office, Macon, GA, for Defendant-Appellant

The Government’s motion to dismiss this appeal pursuant to the appeal waiver in Appellant’s plea agreement is GRANTED. See United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1350-51 (11th Cir. 1993) (sentence appeal waiver will be enforced if it was made knowingly and voluntarily); United States v. Grinard-Henry, 399 F.3d 1294, 1296 (11th Cir. 2005) (waiver of the right to appeal includes waiver of the right to appeal difficult or debatable legal issues or even blatant error).

There is an ambiguity in Mr. Davis’ appeal waiver because it is unclear who is the arbiter concerning the applicable “advisory guideline range.” Here, however, the ambiguity does not help Mr. Davis because even under his theory, the guideline range was 151-188 months, and he received a sentence of 144 months. In other words, Mr. Davis did not receive a sentence that “exceeds the advisory guidelines range,” no matter how that range is calculated.

BY THE COURT: