United States v. Saldivar-Munoz, No. 10-5162 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant Juan Alberto Saldivar-Munoz pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after previous deportation from the United States. In his plea agreement, Defendant preserved his right to appeal the district court’s grant of the government’s motion in limine to preclude the admission of evidence regarding his defenses of necessity or duress. On appeal to the Tenth Circuit, Defendant argued the district court erred in dismissing his proffered evidence in support of his necessity or duress defense. In 2007, Defendant was convicted of false impersonation. After serving a prison sentence, he was deported to Mexico in January 2008. But after several weeks, some members of a local gang approached him, saying they wanted him to run drugs over the border. Defendant was afraid of what the gang would do if he refused; several family members had paid thousands of dollars in ransom to gang members to used kidnapping as coercion. Defendant kept telling the gang he needed time to think about their proposal. But deadlines passed, and Defendant decided it was time to leave. Leaving his family behind, Defendant reentered the United States in late 2008. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that Defendant failed to show he had no reasonable, legal alternative to violating the law: "[a]lthough some leeway needs be given to individuals responding to an emergency, they must still act in the most responsible manner available under the circumstances. … a defendant’s subjective belief that he has no available legal alternatives is insufficient to submit the question to a jury." Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's exclusion of Defendant's necessity or duress evidence.
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