Opinion ID: 3033659
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jurisdiction — Waiver of the Right to Appeal

Text: Before we proceed to the merits of Washington’s claim, we must first determine whether Washington’s waiver of the right to file a federal habeas petition was valid because, if it was, then the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. Washington argues that the sentencing stipulation’s waiver of the right to appeal is unenforceable with respect to an IAC claim challenging the validity of the waiver itself. [1] Neither the Supreme Court nor this court has addressed the issue of whether a waiver of the right to file a collateral challenge is unenforceable with respect to an IAC claim implicating the voluntariness of the waiver itself. We have, however, observed that other circuits have barred waivers of IAC claims associated with the negotiation of plea agreements, and explained that “[c]laims of ineffective assistance of counsel . . . challenge the voluntary and intelligent nature of the plea agreement.” United States v. Ruiz, 241 F.3d 1157, 1164 (9th Cir. 2001), overruled on other grounds, 536 U.S. 622 (2002). Further, we have expressed “doubt” that such a waiver could be enforceable. In United States v. Pruitt, 32 F.3d 431 (9th Cir. 1994), the petitioner previously had directly appealed from his judgment of conviction and sentence, contending that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. Id. at 432. We concluded that Pruitt, through his plea agreement, had waived his right to appeal. Id. at 432-33. Pruitt then filed a collateral challenge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which the district court denied. Id. at 433. We observed that the plea agreement did not waive the right to bring a § 2255 motion, reached the merits of the IAC claim, and affirmed the district court’s denial of the § 2255 motion. We explained that “[w]e doubt that a plea agreement could waive a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel’s errone12314 WASHINGTON v. LAMPERT ously unprofessional inducement of the defendant to plead guilty or accept a particular plea bargain.” Id. Because the issue was not squarely presented, however, we concluded that “we need not face this issue here.” Id. Similarly, in United States v. Jeronimo, 398 F.3d 1149 (9th Cir. 2005), the defendant filed a direct appeal of the district court’s rejection of his request to withdraw his guilty plea. Id. at 1153. Jeronimo’s plea agreement provided that Jeronimo waived his right to appeal and to file a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Id. at 1154. On appeal, Jeronimo argued that “his attorney’s failure to advise him of all the possible consequences of a guilty plea deprived him of the information necessary to render his plea — and the waiver of appeal contained therein — truly knowing and voluntary.” Id. at 1155. We observed that IAC claims ordinarily are not reviewed on direct appeal. Id. We then explained: We leave open the possibility that Jeronimo might raise his ineffective assistance argument on federal habeas procedure, through a § 2255 motion, notwithstanding that Jeronimo’s appeal waiver covered “all his waivable statutory rights to file a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 challenging the length of his sentence.” ... [B]ecause the issue is not squarely presented in this case on direct appeal, we leave for another day our assessment of whether a waiver such as made by Jeronimo can be challenged through a § 2255 motion questioning the validity of the waiver. Id. at 1156 n.4. We concluded that Jeronimo’s waiver was valid and enforceable because the waiver was unambiguous and the record failed to demonstrate that it was not knowingly and voluntarily made. Id. at 1157. See also United States v. WASHINGTON v. LAMPERT 12315 Abarca, 985 F.2d 1012, 1014 (9th Cir. 1993) (explaining that, “[w]hile we do not hold that Abarca’s waiver categorically forecloses him from bringing any section 2255 proceeding, such as a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel or involuntariness of waiver,” Abarca’s challenge to his degree of culpability was clearly foreclosed by the waiver). [2] We note that a number of other circuits have explicitly held, in the context of § 2255 challenges brought by federal prisoners, that waivers cannot bar IAC claims associated with the negotiation of plea agreements. See United States v. White, 307 F.3d 336, 341 (5th Cir. 2002) (“[A] waiver of appeal may not be enforced against a section 2255 petitioner who claims that ineffective assistance of counsel rendered that waiver unknowing or involuntary.”); United States v. Cockerham, 237 F.3d 1179, 1187 (10th Cir. 2001) (“[W]e hold that a plea agreement waiver of postconviction rights does not waive the right to bring a § 2255 petition based on ineffective assistance of counsel claims challenging the validity of the plea or the waiver.”); DeRoo v. United States, 223 F.3d 919, 924 (8th Cir. 2000) (“A defendant’s plea agreement waiver of the right to seek section 2255 post-conviction relief does not waive defendant’s right to argue, pursuant to that section, that the decision to enter into the plea was not knowing and voluntary because it was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel.”). [3] For example, in Jones v. United States, 167 F.3d 1142 (7th Cir. 1999), the Seventh Circuit held that a plea agreement or post-conviction cooperation agreement that waives the right to file a petition under § 2255 is unenforceable with respect to an IAC claim that challenges the voluntariness of the waiver. Id. at 1145. The Seventh Circuit reasoned that [j]ustice dictates that a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in connection with the negotiation of a cooperation agreement cannot be barred by the agreement itself — the very product of the alleged 12316 WASHINGTON v. LAMPERT ineffectiveness. To hold otherwise would deprive a defendant of an opportunity to assert his Sixth Amendment right to counsel where he had accepted the waiver in reliance on delinquent representation. Id. The court then observed that, “[o]rdinarily we would remand to the district court for a determination whether Jones was in fact denied effective assistance of counsel or whether the agreement was involuntary.” Id. at 1145-46. The court noted that Jones, however, “merely advances the naked assertions that he was denied effective assistance of counsel” without identifying the substance of the claim. Id. Therefore, the court reached the merits of the claim and rejected it. Id. [4] The Seventh Circuit’s reasoning in Jones applies with equal force here, in the context of a state prisoner’s federal habeas petition pursuant to § 2254. Indeed, the state acceded as much at oral argument. We therefore hold that a plea agreement that waives the right to file a federal habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is unenforceable with respect to an IAC claim that challenges the voluntariness of the waiver. [5] Because Washington’s waiver is unenforceable with respect to the claim he asserts in his federal habeas petition, the district court had jurisdiction over the petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 and 2254.