Herbert Johnson v. United States
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Whether an illegal sentence exception to plea agreement waivers can coexist alongside a bar of illegal convictions when a sentence and conviction are bundled together by statute
question presented is whether an illegal sentence exception to plea agreement waivers can coexist alongside a bar of illegal convictions when a sentence and conviction are bundled together by statute. I. A guilty plea that includes an appellate waiver does not bar jurisdictional challenges on appeal. Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018). The second 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 jurisdiction to enter a judgment of conviction. Il. The Circuits have confused categorical analysis—which examines only statutory elements—with the contextually distinct rule that an aider and abettor is punishable for the acts of a principal. The third question presented is whether Circuits have failed to apply categorical analysis to aiding and abetting’s distinct elements, which do not meet the requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A)’s force clause. ii