Opinion ID: 2566323
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Mens Rea Element is Unnecessary when Legislative Intent to Omit a Mens Rea Element is Clear

Text: Defendants argue that Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994), and Anderson, 141 Wash.2d 357, 5 P.3d 1247, require a mens rea element. They assert that a public welfare mens rea element should be read into the statute if the legislature intended mere possession to be a public welfare offense or, in the alternative, a traditional mens rea element should be read into the statute if the legislature's intent was unclear. In Staples, the United States Supreme Court reviewed a conviction for possession of an unregistered machine gun under the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. §§ 5801-5872. Staples, 511 U.S. at 602, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The issue was whether the government had to prove the defendant knew the weapon had the characteristics that brought it within the statutory definition. Id. The Court said that the issue of whether knowledge was an element of the crime was a question of statutory construction. Id. at 605, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The Court recognized that `[t]he definition of the elements of a criminal offense is entrusted to the legislature.' Id. at 604, 114 S.Ct. 1793 (quoting Liparota v. United States, 471 U.S. 419, 424, 105 S.Ct. 2084, 85 L.Ed.2d 434 (1985)). The Court construes the language and infers congressional intent. Staples, 511 U.S. at 605, 114 S.Ct. 1793. Silence does not necessarily mean there is no mens rea element. Id. Offenses that do not have a mens rea element are generally disfavored under the common law. Id. at 606, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The Court has suggested that some indication of congressional intent, express or implied, is required to dispense with mens rea as an element of the crime. Id. In Staples, where there was no express or implied congressional intent, the government argued that the act concerned a public welfare or regulatory offense, which the Court construed to have no mens rea element if the statutes were silent. Id. at 606, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The Court found the statute was not one for which it would find silence indicative of no mens rea element because finding no mens rea element would require the defendant to have knowledge of only traditionally lawful conduct (possession of a firearm). Id. at 610-12, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The Court also found the severe penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment suggested that Congress did not intend to eliminate the mens rea element. Id. at 616, 114 S.Ct. 1793. The bottom line for the Court was our holding depends critically on our view that if Congress had intended to make outlaws of gun owners who were wholly ignorant of the offending characteristics of their weapons, and to subject them to lengthy prison terms, it would have spoken more clearly to that effect. Id. at 620, 114 S.Ct. 1793. Anderson, like Staples, involved the crime of possession of a firearm. 141 Wash.2d at 359, 5 P.3d 1247. In Anderson, this court decided whether second degree unlawful possession of a firearm is a strict liability offense one where knowledge of unlawful possession is not an element. Id. The court recognized that the legislature may create strict liability crimes. Id. at 361, 5 P.3d 1247. To determine whether it did, the court looks to the language of the statute and any legislative history. Id. The court found the statute and legislative history inconclusive on the mens rea element. Id. at 362, 5 P.3d 1247. Given that offenses with no mens rea element are disfavored and that a statute will not be deemed to be one of strict liability where such construction would criminalize a broad range of apparently innocent behavior, the court found that the legislature did intend for the State to prove a culpable mens rea. Id. at 364, 5 P.3d 1247. Defendants err in relying on Staples and Anderson because both cases support our holding that we must not imply a mens rea element into the mere possession statute. Both cases state that the legislature has the authority to define crimes. Staples, 511 U.S. at 604, 114 S.Ct. 1793; Anderson, 141 Wash.2d at 361, 5 P.3d 1247. Both cases characterize the issue of whether a statute defines a strict liability crime as an issue of statutory construction and/or legislative intent. Staples, 511 U.S. at 605, 114 S.Ct. 1793; Anderson, 141 Wash.2d at 361, 5 P.3d 1247. Both cases turn to the language of the statute to determine legislative intent. Id. After finding the language inconclusive, Anderson turned to legislative history. Id. at 362, 5 P.3d 1247. The legislative history of the mere possession statute is clear. The legislature omitted the knowingly or intentionally language from the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The Cleppe court relied on this legislative history when it refused to imply a mens rea element into the mere possession statute. The legislature has amended RCW 69.50.401 seven times since Cleppe and has not added a mens rea element. Given that the legislative history is so clear, we refuse to imply a mens rea element.