No. 25-6136

Damien Antione Jones v. United States

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-11-17
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: appellate-waiver collateral-review constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether it violates federal constitutional due process for a defendant who pleads guilty and waives the right to appeal or seek collateral-review for a conviction that is later found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court to then be forced to serve the unconstitutional sentence because of the prior plea agreement's waiver of appeal or collateral-review

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

in this certiora ri petition is whether it viola tes federal constitutiona l due process for a defendant who pleads guilty and waives the right to appeal or seek collateral-review for a convic tion that is later found to be unconstitutiona l by this Court, to then be forced to serve the unconstitutiona l sentence because of the prior ple a agreement’s waiver of appeal or c ollateral-review? i List of Par ties The names of the parties are listed in the caption of this case. The Finding s, Conclusion, and Recommendation of the Unite d States Magistra te Judge at Appe ndix Tab C, was signe d by the Hon. Rebecca Rutherford, Unite d States Magistra te Judge for the Northe rn Distric t of Texas, Dallas Division. The Orde r Accepting Findings and Recommendation of the Unite d States Magistra te Judge , and Distric t Court’s Judgm ent at Appe ndix Ta bs D a nd E, we re signe d by the Hon. Jane J. Boyle, Unite d States Distric t Judge for the Northe rn District of Texas, Dallas Division. The panel of the Unite d States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at New Orleans, Louisia na, whic h issue d a 2-1 unpublishe d opinion, consiste d of Fifth Circuit Judge s James L. Dennis, Prisc illa Richman, and James C. Ho. The majority opinion wa s authore d by Judge Richman, and Judge Dennis disse nted for the reasons stated in Unite d State s v. Cedric Ray Jones, 134 F. 4th 831, 842-846 (5th Cir. 2025), as stated at Appe ndix Ta b A, p. 1, first footnote. The Fifth Circuit’s Cedric Ray Jones opinion, whic h was incorpora ted by reference in the Damie n Antione Jones opinion, is attached at Appe ndix Ta b B. ii Table of Conte nts Question Pre sented for R eview. i List of Pa rties. ii

Docket Entries

2026-01-22
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-21
Waiver of Damien Antione Jones of the 14-day waiting period submitted.
2026-01-21
Waiver of the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed by petitioner.
2026-01-16
Memorandum of respondent United States filed.
2025-12-15
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 16, 2026.
2025-12-11
Motion of United States for an extension of time submitted.
2025-12-11
Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 17, 2025 to January 16, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
2025-10-24
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 17, 2025)

Attorneys

Damien Antione Jones
Gregory Don Sherwood — Petitioner
Gregory Don Sherwood — Petitioner
Gregory Don Sherwood — Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent