United States of America v. Tara D. Childress

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 17-1307
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Tara D. Childress
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City
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Submitted: August 4, 2017
Filed: August 11, 2017
[Unpublished]
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Before COLLOTON, MURPHY, and KELLY, Circuit Judges
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PER CURIAM.
In this direct criminal appeal, Tara Childress challenges the sentence the
district court imposed after she pleaded guilty to drug and robbery charges, pursuant1
The Honorable Gary A. Fenner, United States District Judge for the Western1
District of Missouri.

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to a written plea agreement which included an appeal waiver. Her counsel has moved
to withdraw and submitted a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967),
raising the issue that the sentence was unreasonable. Childress has also filed a pro
se supplemental brief, arguing that counsel was ineffective and disputing the
Guidelines calculations; and a motion for appointment of new counsel.
We conclude that the appeal waiver is enforceable, because our review of the
record demonstrates that Childress entered into the plea agreement and the appeal
waiver knowingly and voluntarily, see Nguyen v. United States, 114 F.3d 699, 703
(8th Cir. 1997); the arguments fall within the scope of the waiver; and no miscarriage
of justice would result from enforcing the waiver, see United States v. Scott, 627 F.3d
702, 704 (8th Cir. 2010) (de novo review); United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886,
890-92 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc). We decline to address the ineffective-assistance
claim on direct appeal, as it would be better litigated in a 28 U.S.C. § 2255
proceeding. See United States v. Ramirez-Hernandez, 449 F.3d 824, 826-27 (8th Cir.
2006). Furthermore, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v.
Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal outside
the scope of the waiver.
Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, deny the motion for new
counsel, and dismiss this appeal.
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