Opinion ID: 747234
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Monsalve.

Text: 28 Monsalve argues that the district court erred in denying him a duress instruction. He was entitled to one if he presented evidence of (1) immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, (2) well-grounded fear that the threat will be carried out, and (3) no reasonable opportunity to escape the threatened harm. United States v. Asuncion, 973 F.2d 769, 772 (9th Cir.1992). Monsalve's testimony, if the jury believed it, established that he had lost $300,000 of the Cali cartel's money to the police, and that the Cali cartel did not believe Monsalve and thought he had stolen their money. The cartel kidnapped Monsalve's father in Colombia, and then agreed to release the father so long as Monsalve worked for them in the United States. The government argues that there is no immediacy to the threat, but a jury could conclude that Monsalve was forced to work for the cartel by the threat of a second kidnapping of his father, which would take place immediately if he did not follow orders. If Monsalve's account is true, this is, in fact, what happened during his trip to Colombia. Monsalve testified that he was blindfolded, taken to a warehouse and surrounded by twenty armed men, and then told to call home where his sister told him their father had been kidnapped. The government argues that under Monsalve's account, he could have escaped by cooperating with the American authorities. We do not see how protection would have protected his father in Colombia. See United States v. Contento-Pachon, 723 F.2d 691, 694 (9th Cir.1984). Accordingly, Monsalve should have received a duress instruction. We vacate his convictions and remand his case for retrial. 29