United States v. Christopher Johnson, 695 F. App'x 186

Defendant Christopher Johnson pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and entered a written plea agreement that included an appeal waiver.
The district court imposed a sentence and a restitution order; Johnson appealed only the sentence and related issues.
Appellate counsel moved to withdraw and submitted an Anders brief arguing the sentence was unreasonable.
Johnson filed a pro se supplemental brief raising ineffective assistance of counsel, sentencing enhancements and indictment errors, a challenge to the restitution order, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct for reliance on PSR facts.
The panel reviewed whether the appeal waiver was valid and applicable and whether any claims fell outside the waiver or warranted relief on the merits.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity and scope of appeal waiver	Johnson contends his challenges to sentence and indictment should be considered	Government argues waiver is valid and bars most appellate claims	Waiver is valid, enforceable as to sentencing and indictment issues; no miscarriage of justice
Restitution order	Johnson argues restitution was improper	Government contends restitution is part of sentencing and covered, or alternatively was proper	Restitution challenge lies outside waiver but fails on plain-error review; district court did not err
Prosecutorial misconduct re: PSR facts	Johnson asserts government improperly argued disputed PSR facts at sentencing	Government notes PSR facts were not disputed at sentencing and consideration was proper	Claim lies outside waiver but fails because PSR facts were not contested at sentencing; no misconduct shown
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Johnson asserts counsel was ineffective	Government argues such claims are better raised collateral attack, not on direct appeal	Court declines to address ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal and directs collateral proceedings instead

United States v. Scott, 627 F.3d 702 (8th Cir.) (reviewing validity and applicability of appeal waivers)
United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886 (8th Cir. en banc) (discussing enforcement of appeal waivers)
Nguyen v. United States, 114 F.3d 699 (8th Cir.) (defendant's plea representations carry presumption of verity)
United States v. Sistrunk, 432 F.3d 917 (8th Cir.) (restitution orders may lie outside appeal waivers)
United States v. Louper-Morris, 672 F.3d 539 (8th Cir.) (plain-error review of restitution where no sentencing objection)
United States v. Clayton, 787 F.3d 929 (8th Cir.) (elements for prosecutorial misconduct and consideration of PSR facts)
United States v. Thomas, 615 F.3d 895 (8th Cir.) (district court may consider PSR facts after defense withdraws objections)
United States v. Ramirez-Hernandez, 449 F.3d 824 (8th Cir.) (ineffective-assistance claims generally best raised in collateral proceedings)
Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (U.S.) (court's independent review when counsel seeks withdrawal under Anders)