United States v. Bello

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

Jesús Bello appeals his conviction and sentence for assaulting a fellow prisoner in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (“MDC-Guayna-bo”) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(6). Bello claims that the court erred in taking judicial notice of the jurisdictional element of the offense, namely, that MDC-Guayna-bo was within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. He also claims that the court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on his defenses of self-defense and duress, and in telling the jurors outside of the presence of counsel, in…