Judel Espinoza-Gonzalez v. United States
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Whether a court can summarily enforce an appellate waiver to bar motions to vacate convictions and mandatory prison sentences under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for which the district court lacked authority to enter a judgment of conviction
question presented is whether a court can summarily enforce an appellate waiver to bar motions to vacate convictions and mandatory prison sentences under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for which the district court lacked authority to enter a judgment of conviction. I. For convictions and sentences to stand, they must not violate the constitution. Challenges to illegal convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) necessarily encompass illegal, mandatory, consecutive sentences. The second question presented is whether courts can deny a motion to vacate an unconstitutional conviction and mandatory prison sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) by concluding the challenge only pertains to the illegal conviction, not the illegal sentence, and is thus summarily barred by an appellate waiver. ii