Randy Lee Stapleton v. United States
JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether an appellate court should review on the merits the denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea notwithstanding a purported waiver of appeal
QUESTION PRESENTED After learning of the objective evidence (body camera video footage) documenting an unlawful warrantless search and seizure, the defendant moved to withdraw his plea on the grounds that his trial counsel failed to file a meritorious motion to suppress. The question is: Whether an appellate court should review on the merits the denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea notwithstanding a purported waiver of appeal, as most federal circuits would do as falling under a miscarriage of justice, or whether, as the Fifth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits do, fail to recognize a miscarriage of justice exception to appellate waivers.