Escaping an appeal waiver in the Fifth Circuit

Because I can barely keep up with published opinions, I rely on kind readers to alert me to unpublished dispositions that seem noteworthy.  And one kind reader sent me a note reporting excitement in the Fifth Circuit over Monday’s unpublished decision in US v. Whavers, No. 04-61162 (5th Cir. Feb. 6, 2006) (available here).  Whavers seems perhaps significant because the Fifth Circuit refuses to enforce an appeal waiver after finding that, because the district court at rearraignment provided “an inaccurate characterization of the appeal waiver[,] … the appeal waiver was not knowing and voluntary.”