Scott v. State

• Decision Date: 03 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC94701.,SC94701.
• Citation: 808 So.2d 166
• Parties: Bobby SCOTT, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

808 So.2d 166

Bobby SCOTT, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC94701.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 3, 2002.

Rehearing Denied February 11, 2002.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Susan A. Fagan, Assistant Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Respondent.

QUINCE, J.

We have for review the following three questions certified by the Fifth District Court of Appeal to be of great public importance:

DOES THE ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE RAISE A REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION (OR INFERENCE) THAT THE DEFENDANT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF ITS ILLICIT NATURE?

IF SO, IF THE DEFENDANT FAILS TO RAISE THE ISSUE THAT HE WAS UNAWARE OF THE ILLICIT NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE, IS HE NEVERTHELESS ENTITLED TO A CHICONE INSTRUCTION?

CAN THE FAILURE TO GIVE THE REQUESTED INSTRUCTION BE HARMLESS ERROR?

See Scott v. State, 722 So.2d 256 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)

. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida Constitution. For the reasons stated below, we answer questions one and three in the negative and question two in the affirmative. In answering these questions we hold that the defendant's knowledge of the illicit nature of the controlled substance is an element of the offense of possession, and an instruction that the State must prove this element must be given as a part of the standard jury instructions. Thus, we quash the district court's decision and remand for a new trial.

Factual and Procedural Background

Bobby Scott was charged in an information filed on January 6, 1997, with introduction or possession of contraband in a correctional facility. At the conclusion of his two-day jury trial, defense counsel requested an instruction pursuant to this Court's opinion in Chicone v. State, 684 So.2d 736 (Fla.1996).¹ When asked by the trial judge if counsel was requesting something more than the Medlin² instruction, counsel said yes and indicated, reading from the Chicone opinion, that the jury should be instructed that the element of knowledge means the defendant had knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance allegedly possessed. Such an instruction was not given, and Scott was convicted as charged.

Scott filed a timely appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeal, arguing the trial court reversibly erred in denying his request for a special instruction under Chicone. Scott further claimed the burden was on the State to prove that he knew the substance was cannabis, even if he did not raise the issue. Thus, he opined, the trial court erred by failing to give the requested Chicone instruction.

The Fifth District rejected this argument, concluding that "the supreme court has not yet decided whether a special instruction concerning [a] defendant's knowledge is required if he challenges only his possession of the substance." Scott, 722 So.2d at 257. The Fifth District stated in reference to the presumption of knowledge that "[a]lthough Chicone places the burden of proof on the State to prove knowledge of the illicit nature of the contraband, it does not, at least expressly, overrule the Medlin presumption." Id. at 258. This statement is based on the fact that the Fifth District, as well as other district courts of appeal, has interpreted our opinion in State v. Medlin, 273 So.2d 394 (Fla. 1973), to say that the doing of the act, i.e., possessing the controlled substance, raises a rebuttable presumption that the possessor was aware of the nature of the drug possessed. Finally, the Fifth District opined that any failure to give the requested instruction was harmless error because Scott's defense was not based on lack of knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance.³ The Fifth District has misinterpreted Chicone and Medlin.

Chicone Decision

In Chicone, we accepted jurisdiction to resolve the conflict between the district court's decision in Chicone v. State, 658 So.2d 1007 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), and numerous other district court opinions on the issue of whether guilty knowledge is an element of possession of a controlled substance or possession of drug paraphernalia. We answered the question in the affirmative for both possession of the substance and the paraphernalia. In resolving this question we explained that the "guilty knowledge" element of possession actually involves two elements, knowledge of the presence of the substance and knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance. In the final analysis we clearly said both knowledge of the presence of the substance and knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance are essential elements of the crime of possession of an illegal substance.⁴ Thus, we found the State was required to prove that Chicone knew of the illicit nature of the items in his possession. See Chicone v. State, 684 So.2d at 744

. Accord Lambert v. State, 728 So.2d 1189 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999).

We further indicated that lack of knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance is not an affirmative defense to be raised and proven by the defendant. We said:

The State, to its credit, does not claim that a defendant shown to be without guilty knowledge could be convicted under the possession statute. Rather, the State contends that lack of knowledge of the illicit nature of the item possessed should be raised and proven as an affirmative defense. We disagree. Nowhere has the legislature provided for such an affirmative defense. Furthermore, if the statute did not require guilty knowledge, then obviously a person who possessed an illicit object even without knowledge of its illicit nature would be as guilty of violating the statute (that had no scienter requirement) as one who did have knowledge. Lack of knowledge could hardly be a defense to a statute that did not require such knowledge. Hence, the State's position really supports our holding and we commend the State for its forthright approach and candor.

Chicone, 684 So.2d at 744.

Furthermore, we indicated that a jury instruction is required if requested. We specifically held:

We stated earlier that the State must prove guilty knowledge to establish the defendant's possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia. At trial, Chicone proffered instructions that required the jury to find that the substance he possessed was known to him to be cocaine and that the object he possessed was known to him to be drug paraphernalia in order to convict him. The trial court denied these instructions and gave the standard jury instructions set out above along with the standard jury instructions on reasonable doubt, which the trial judge read twice.

While the existing jury instructions are adequate in requiring "knowledge of the presence of the substance," we agree that, if specifically requested by a defendant, the trial court should expressly indicate to jurors that guilty knowledge means the defendant must have knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance allegedly possessed.

Chicone, 684 So.2d at 745-746. It is implicit in this holding that the standard jury instructions on possession do not adequately inform the jury of the "illicit nature of the substance" requirement of the guilty knowledge element. See State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643, 644 (Fla.1991)

. It is with this backdrop that we address the issues left open in our Chicone decision.⁵

Analysis

In reaching its conclusion that Scott was not entitled to the requested jury instruction on knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance, the Fifth District found that what the defense argued, that Scott did not possess the illegal substance, was inconsistent with an argument that Scott had no knowledge of the illicit nature of the drugs. Additionally, the district court opined that Scott would only be entitled to the requested instruction if there was some evidence presented to the jury which responded to the presumption discussed in State v. Medlin, 273 So.2d 394 (Fla.1973). Thirdly, the Fifth District in Scott found the failure to give the instruction harmless because there was no evidence before the jury which responded to the presumption that Scott had knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance. We find these reasons unpersuasive.

The rationale that Scott's defense is internally inconsistent is flawed and appears to be premised on a proposition that we rejected in Chicone, that is, that the defendant has the burden to put forth evidence on this issue. As we previously said and reiterate here, guilty knowledge of the illicit nature of the possessed substance is an element of the offense of possession of a controlled substance. The State has the burden of proof in any prosecution to demonstrate each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. State, 575 So.2d 181 (Fla.1991)

; Butler v. State, 715 So.2d 339 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). Since knowledge is an element of the offense, the State has the burden of proving the defendant's possession was knowing. Moreover, the jury is entitled to be instructed on the elements of an offense. In Gerds v. State, 64 So.2d 915 (Fla.1953), we held:

It is an inherent and indispensable requisite of a fair and impartial trial under the protective powers of our Federal and State Constitutions as contained in the due process of law clauses that a defendant be accorded the right to have a Court correctly and intelligently instruct the jury on the essential and material elements of the crime charged and required to be proven by competent evidence.

Id. at 916. See also State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643 (Fla.1991)

. Since the jury is entitled to be instructed on the elements of the offense, it cannot be harmless error to fail to do so especially when the omission is brought to the attention of the trial court by the defendant.

Furthermore, Scott is not arguing two alternative defenses, as the Fifth District suggests. See Scott, 722 So.2d at 258

. Rather, it is a...