Appellate Law

CA1: appeal waivers and synthetic marijuana

By S. COTUS

US v. Pratt, No. 06-2287 concludes that an appeal following a guilty plea is barred by an appeal waiver that the defendant signed.  Applying US  v. Teeter, 257 F.3d 14, 25 (1st Cir. 2001), the First says that there really wasn't a miscarriage of justice going on here, as whatever legal questions defendant argues were outstanding were resolved by the District Court, so it wasn't as if the District Court blindly thought about the guilty plea. 

Also the addition of a money laundering count doesn't create a double jeopardy problem.

Strangely, the court doesn't question the government's assertion that a lot of marijuana was ?manufactured? in the Montreal area.  Seriously, marijuana is grown.  While illegal in some places, it is is a weed or agricultural product.   What the hell was the First thinking? 

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on July 14, 2008 (boomark / email).