Nguyen

MEMORANDUM **

In this disposition, we address defendant Vinh Huu Nguyen’s appeal (No. 00-50446) from his conviction and sentence for failure to surrender to begin service of sentence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3146 (a). We address the sureties’ appeal (No. 00-55795) in a separate disposition.

Nguyen argues that, although his failure to surrender was knowing and intentional, the district court erred by declining to instruct the jury that willfulness is an element of the § 3146 offense and by declining to give the jury a good-faith or advice-of-counsel instruction. We review de novo “[wjhether a jury instruction misstates the elements of a statutory crime,” United States v. Frega, 179 F.3d 793 , 807 n. 16 (9th Cir.1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1191 , 120 S.Ct. 1247 , 146 L.Ed.2d 105 , and cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1029 , 120 S.Ct. 1443 , 146 L.Ed.2d 331 (2000), and the district court’s denial of proposed jury instructions concerning the defendant’s theory of the case, United States v. Munoz, 233 F.3d 1117, 1130 (9th Cir.2000). “We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s factual findings vis-a-vis a ‘theory of the case’ instruction.” United States v. Sarno, 73 F.3d 1470,…