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Garcia v. State4/21/2005
held that the trial court's denial of the requested instruction was reversible error. Scott, 808 So. 2d at 172.
In the Scott decision, this Court initially reviewed Chicone and noted that that decision "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." Id. at 169. The Court then wrote, "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." Id. at 170. Turning to the case at hand, the Court addressed the argument that the trial court did not err in denying the requested instruction because Scott did not specifically dispute that element. The Court wrote:
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. Since knowledge is an element of the offense, the State has the burden of proving the defendant's possession was knowing. 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.
Id. at 170-71. Following this passage, the Court added:
Furthermore, Scott is not arguing two alternative defenses, as the Fifth District suggests. Rather, it is a single argument that he did not possess the drugs. Scott's argument that he did not possess the drugs and had no knowledge of the drug's presence in his locker encompasses the argument that he was unaware of the illicit nature of the substance. With this kind of argument and defense, each element of the offense is a disputed element on which the jury must be instructed. Moreover, the requirement that an instruction must be given does not depend on the defense espoused. Because knowledge of the illicit nature is an element of the crime and the jury must be instructed on each element of the crime, an instruction must be given even when the defendant simply requires the State to prove its case and offers nothing by way of an affirmative defense.
Id. at 172 (citation omitted). A close reading of these two passages reveals that the Court's holding in Scott was, as stated in the conclusion, that the trial court erred in denying the requested instruction because " t is error to fail to gi
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