United States v. Daryon B. Howard, 704 F. App'x 908

Daryon Howard pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (21 U.S.C. § 841) and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)).
The district court sentenced Howard to 137 months' imprisonment after the guilty plea.
Howard sought to challenge his sentence on direct appeal, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing for failing to seek a downward departure based on psychologist’s report factors.
His plea agreement contained a broad sentence-appeal waiver: he expressly waived the right to appeal his sentence on any ground except three enumerated exceptions (ineffective-assistance-at-sentencing was not one).
The government moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing the waiver was knowing and voluntary and thus bars Howard’s ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal; alternatively, the government argued the record is undeveloped for direct review.
The Eleventh Circuit evaluated whether the waiver foreclosed the ineffective-assistance challenge and whether the waiver had been knowingly and voluntarily made.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether sentence-appeal waiver bars Howard’s ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal	Howard: waiver does not bar collateral-type challenges like ineffective assistance on direct appeal	Government: waiver was knowing and voluntary and bars appeal of sentence, including this claim	Waiver’s plain language bars Howard from raising ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal; enforce waiver
Whether waiver was knowing and voluntary	Howard did not contest validity of the waiver	Government: record (plea agreement and colloquy) supports that waiver was knowing and voluntary	Court enforces waiver because Howard did not argue it was invalid
Whether ineffective-assistance claims are ordinarily reviewable on direct appeal	Howard implied claim could be heard as a collateral challenge on direct appeal	Government noted such claims generally are not heard on direct appeal	Court notes ineffective-assistance claims generally are not heard on direct appeal and does not address collateral-proceeding availability
Whether the appeal should be dismissed for an underdeveloped record	Howard argued merits of ineffective-assistance claim based on sentencing record	Government alternatively argued record is insufficient for direct review	Court did not reach merits due to enforceable waiver; granted motion to dismiss

United States v. Johnson, 541 F.3d 1064 (11th Cir.) (standard of review and validity of sentence-appeal waivers)
United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343 (11th Cir. 1993) (waivers enforceable if made knowingly and voluntarily; methods to demonstrate knowledge)
Thomas v. United States, 572 F.3d 1300 (11th Cir. 2009) (ineffective-assistance claims are generally not resolved on direct appeal)