Fabian Cobos Carpena, a Mexican national, was brought to the United States as a teenager by a U.S. citizen, Rosanna Miranda Torres, who subjected him to over a decade of physical abuse, threats, and control. After being deported in 2013, Carpena was kidnapped by Torres's associates and forced back into the U.S., where he continued to live under her coercion. In 2023, he escaped her apartment and sought a protective order, but he was subsequently arrested for domestic assault. During booking, authorities discovered his prior deportation, leading to a federal indictment for unlawful reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Carpena entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving his right to appeal the district court's denial of a motion for a jury instruction on the defense of duress.
The Tenth Circuit analyzed whether Carpena presented sufficient evidence to warrant a duress instruction, which requires proof of three elements: an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, a well-grounded fear that the threat would be carried out, and no reasonable opportunity to escape the harm. The court acknowledged the severity of the abuse but focused on the third element, particularly in the context of unlawful reentry, which is a continuing offense. The court reasoned that Carpena had numerous opportunities to escape and surrender to law enforcement during the eleven years he remained in the United States after his initial forced reentry. The opinion notes that he was occasionally left alone, had contact with family, and possessed financial resources, all of which provided reasonable alternatives to remaining in the U.S. illegally. Furthermore, the court emphasized that even after his escape on April 30, 2023, Carpena waited more than three weeks before disclosing his immigration status in a protective order petition. Citing precedent, the court held that a defendant must surrender at the earliest possible opportunity once the duress loses its coercive force, and a delay of several weeks precludes the defense. The court concluded that Carpena failed to proffer evidence that he had no reasonable opportunity to escape or that he promptly surrendered, making the denial of the instruction a matter of law.
The decision affirms Carpena's conviction and sentence, leaving the district court's judgment intact. It reinforces the strict requirement in the Tenth Circuit that defendants claiming duress in continuing offenses must demonstrate they surrendered to authorities at the earliest possible opportunity once the threat dissipated. The ruling clarifies that episodic separation from an abuser or the passage of time does not automatically preclude a duress defense, but the failure to act on available opportunities to escape or report the crime will defeat the defense as a matter of law.
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