United States v. Noel Arike
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States v. Noel Arike
Opinion
USCA11 Case: 23-10823 Document: 36-1 Date Filed: 02/22/2024 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 23-10823
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
NOEL ARIKE,
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Alabama
D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cr-00139-JB-MU-12
____________________
USCA11 Case: 23-10823 Document: 36-1 Date Filed: 02/22/2024 Page: 2 of 3
2 Opinion of the Court 23-10823
Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Noel Arike challenges the district court’s decision to revoke
his pre-sentence supervised release and its denial of an acceptance-
of-responsibility reduction at sentencing. In response, the govern-
ment filed a motion to dismiss this appeal. It asserts that (1) this
Court lacks jurisdiction over Arike’s challenge to his supervised re-
lease because a magistrate judge made that determination and
Arike never appealed it to the district court, and (2) the remaining
issue on appeal is barred by the appeal waiver in Arike’s plea agree-
ment.
The government is correct that Arike never challenged the
magistrate judge’s revocation of his pre-sentence release before the
district court. Under those circumstances, “we lack jurisdiction to
hear this appeal.” United States v. Schultz, 565 F.3d 1353, 1360 (11th
Cir. 2009). Moreover, and in any event, Arike’s challenge on this
front is likely moot because he has since been sentenced. Cf. Mur-
phy v. Hunt, 455 U.S. 478, 481 (1982). As a result, we GRANT the
government’s request to dismiss this issue on appeal.
We reject, however, the government’s request that we dis-
miss the remaining issue on appeal. A key part of Arike’s challenge
to the district court’s sentencing determination is that the govern-
ment breached its plea agreement with him. As our precedent
makes clear, “an appeal waiver does not bar a defendant’s claim that
the government breached [a] plea agreement.” United States v.
USCA11 Case: 23-10823 Document: 36-1 Date Filed: 02/22/2024 Page: 3 of 3
23-10823 Opinion of the Court 3
Hunter, 835 F.3d 1320, 1324 (11th Cir. 2016). Accordingly, we DENY
the government’s request to dismiss Arike’s remaining challenge
regarding whether the district court correctly denied him an ac-
ceptance-of-responsibility sentencing reduction.
As requested, we grant the government 30 days to file a re-
sponsive brief regarding the remaining issue relevant to Arike’s ap-
peal.
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished