Derris Deshune Carpenter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport an illegal alien and was sentenced to ten months in prison. Following his sentencing, Carpenter filed a notice of appeal. The government subsequently moved to enforce the appeal waiver included in his plea agreement. In response, Carpenter's counsel filed a motion to withdraw, citing the Supreme Court's decision in Anders v. California. Counsel stated that after a conscientious examination of the case and the record, they found any opposition to the government's motion to be wholly frivolous. The court then provided Carpenter an opportunity to file a pro se response, extending the initial deadline, but Carpenter failed to submit any response.
The Tenth Circuit applied the three-part test established in United States v. Hahn to determine whether to enforce the appeal waiver. Under this standard, the court must find that the disputed appeal falls within the scope of the waiver, that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights, and that enforcing the waiver would not result in a miscarriage of justice. The court noted that, consistent with Anders v. California, it fully examined all the proceedings in the record. After this review, the court agreed with the government and counsel that there was no non-frivolous basis to oppose the motion to enforce the waiver. Consequently, the court found all three conditions of the Hahn test were met.
The appeal is dismissed, and the original ten-month prison sentence stands. The defendant's counsel is officially withdrawn from the case. The decision reinforces the enforceability of appeal waivers in plea agreements when the defendant fails to raise non-frivolous issues and does not respond to court orders to file pro se arguments.
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