Opinion ID: 1868410
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Frank

Text: In Frank v. State, 199 So.2d 117 (Fla. 1st DCA 1967), the court expressly held that knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance possessed was an element of the crime of possession. Judge Wigginton's opinion in Frank contains one of the clearest expressions of the reason knowledge is required in a possession offense: Scienter constitutes a factual issue to be resolved by the jury upon proper instructions as to the legal principles pertinent to its consideration. This is not a mere technicality in the law, but a legal principle which must be observed in order to safeguard innocent persons from being made the victims of unlawful acts perpetrated by others, and of which they have no knowledge. It is a safeguard which must be preserved in the interest of justice so that the constitutional rights of our citizens may be preserved. For these reasons it is our view that the error committed by the trial judge so infects the judgment that it should not be permitted to stand. Id. at 121; see also Spataro v. State, 179 So.2d 873 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965). Similarly, in Rutskin v. State, 260 So.2d 525 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972), the court restated the rationale for requiring guilty knowledge: There was no evidence that the appellant had knowledge that the unopened parcel contained marijuana. The fact that he happened to be the addressee of the parcel obviously does not supply the evidence that he knew that the parcel contained marijuana or any other contraband. If this were not so, any innocent person could be convicted of possession of marijuana just because he happens to be the recipient of a package containing marijuana. Id. at 526. Our Medlin opinion expressly distinguished Frank because Frank involved constructive possession as opposed to the case of actual possession involved in Medlin. Medlin similarly distinguished Rutskin. [3]