FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT June 17, 2016
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Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 16-2021
(D.C. No. 1:15-CR-01506-JB-1)
VICTOR HURTADO, (D. N.M.)
Defendant - Appellant.
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ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
_________________________________
Before HARTZ, GORSUCH, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.
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After he robbed a pharmacy at gunpoint to obtain oxycodone, Victor Hurtado
pled guilty to interference and conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by
robbery and violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), brandishing a firearm in
furtherance of a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), and possession
with intent to distribute oxycodone in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and
(b)(1)(C). The district court sentenced him to 141 months in prison, followed by five
years of supervised release.
*
This panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not
materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2);
10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law
of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its
persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
In his plea agreement, Mr. Hurtado waived his right to appeal or collaterally
attack his convictions and sentence, except he reserved the right to file a collateral
attack based on ineffective assistance of counsel. Despite this broad waiver, he filed
this appeal seeking to challenge his § 924(c) conviction as constitutionally invalid in
light of Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015).
The government has moved to enforce the appeal waiver in the plea agreement
under United States v. Hahn, 359 F.3d 1315 (10th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (per curiam).
Hahn instructs us to enforce appeal waivers as long as three conditions are met:
(1) the matter on appeal falls within the scope of the waiver; (2) the defendant
knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights; and (3) enforcing the waiver
will not result in a miscarriage of justice. Id. at 1325. The government’s motion
addresses each of these conditions and why they are satisfied.
Mr. Hurtado’s court-appointed counsel has not requested permission to
withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744 (1967),1 but in the response
he filed on behalf of Mr. Hurtado he agreed with the government that the appeal
waiver applies such that “the appeal should be dismissed, in accord with the bargain
struck in the district court between the government and defendant.” Resp. to Mot. to
Enforce at 2. We gave Mr. Hurtado notice of his counsel’s position and directed him
1
Counsel did move to withdraw after filing the notice of appeal, believing that
Mr. Hurtado was going to hire new counsel. We denied his motion without prejudice
for failing to meet the requirements of 10th Cir. R. 46.4(A)—a task complicated by
counsel’s inability to reach Mr. Hurtado while he was in transit within the Bureau of
Prisons. New counsel never materialized.
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to file a response showing why this court should not enforce the waiver. The
deadline for doing so has passed, with no response from Mr. Hurtado.
Having independently and thoroughly reviewed the record per Anders, see
386 U.S. at 744, we conclude that Mr. Hurtado does not have a non-frivolous
response to the government’s motion. The government unequivocally establishes
that the appeal falls within the scope of the waiver, the waiver was knowing and
voluntary, and enforcing the waiver will not result in a miscarriage of justice. See
Hahn, 359 F.3d at 1325. We therefore grant the government’s motion to enforce and
dismiss the appeal.
Entered for the Court
Per Curiam
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