Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/18pdf/17-1026_2c83.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

6 

GARZA v. IDAHO 

Opinion of the Court 

quently,  while  signing  an  appeal  waiver  means  giving  up 
some,  many,  or  even  most  appellate  claims,  some  claims 
nevertheless remain. 

2 
It is also important to consider what it means—and does

not mean—for trial counsel to file a notice of appeal. 

“Filing  such  a  notice  is  a  purely  ministerial  task  that 
imposes  no  great  burden  on  counsel.”    Flores-Ortega,  528 
U. S., at 474.  It typically takes place during a compressed 
window: 42 days in Idaho, for example, and just 14 days in
federal court.  See Idaho Rule App. Proc. 14(a) (2017); Fed.
Rule  App.  Proc.  4(b)(1)(A).    By  the  time  this  window  has 
closed,  the  defendant  likely  will  not  yet  have  important 
documents from the trial court, such as transcripts of key
proceedings,  see,  e.g.,  Idaho  Rules  App.  Proc.  19  and  25;
Fed.  Rule  App.  Proc.  10(b),  and  may  well  be  in  custody,
making communication with counsel difficult, see Peguero 
v.  United  States,  526  U. S.  23,  26  (1999).    And  because 
some defendants receive new counsel for their appeals, the 
lawyer  responsible  for  deciding  which  appellate  claims  to
raise may not yet even be involved in the case.

Filing requirements reflect that claims are, accordingly, 
likely  to  be  ill  defined  or  unknown  at  this  stage.    In  the 
federal  system,  for  example,  a  notice  of  appeal  need  only
identify  who  is  appealing;  what  “judgment,  order,  or
part  thereof”  is  being  appealed;  and  “the  court  to 
which  the  appeal  is  taken.”    Fed.  Rule  App.  Proc.  3(c)(1). 
Generally  speaking,  state  requirements  are  similarly 

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F. 3d  1278,  1284  (CA11  2015)  (“[A]ppellate  review  is  also  permitted 
when  a  defendant  claims  that  the  government  breached  the  very  plea
agreement  which  purports  to  bar  him  from  appealing  or  collaterally
attacking his conviction and sentence”); State v. Dye, 291 Neb. 989, 999, 
870  N. W.  2d  628,  634  (2015)  (holding  that  appeal  waivers  are  subject
to  a  “miscarriage  of  justice”  exception).    We  make  no  statement  today
on what particular exceptions may be required.