Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Published Opinions

Monday, April 22, 2019

Pavlenko: No Standing to Appeal Dismissal of Indictment


In United States v. Pavlenko, No. 17-15047 (Apr. 22, 2019) (William Pryor, Newsom, Rosenthal), the Court held that the defendant lacked Article III standing to appeal the dismissal of an indictment.

The defendant entered a settlement agreement with the government whereby he would agree to return to Russian and abandon his LPR status in the United States and waive any right to return for ten years.  In exchange, the government agreed to dismissal all charges against him.  After the defendant boarded a flight to Russia, the government moved to dismiss, and the court granted the motion and dismissed the indictment in light of the settlement agreement.  On appeal, the defendant argued that the dismissal order deviated from the settlement agreement and imposed conditions on him to which he never agreed.  The Eleventh Circuit, however, concluded that the order did no more than dismiss the indictment against him.  Contrary to his argument, the court's order did not subject him to the continuing supervision.  Because the district court did no more than dismiss the indictment, and thus did not injure him, the defendant lacked standing to appeal the order.