United States v. West

Summary

A per curiam order carried the government's opposed motion to dismiss Kyle Lamar West's appeal with the case and granted the government's alternative motion for a thirty-day extension to file its brief, deferring any ruling on the plea agreement's appeal waiver until full adversary briefing. Judge Higginson, concurring, wrote to reiterate that parties in criminal cases cannot contract away the court's jurisdiction, to note that the Supreme Court has since confirmed a miscarriage-of-justice exception to appeal waivers, and to observe that the earlier appeal produced a restitution increase from $6,000 to $372,200 for the child victim. Judge Oldham, dissenting, argued the court should have enforced the appeal waiver and dismissed the second appeal as frivolous.