United States v. Charles Demore Jewell

OPINION

Before CHAMBERS, KOELSCH, BROWNING, DUNIWAY, ELY, HUF-STEDLER, WRIGHT, TRASK, CHOY, GOODWIN, WALLACE, SNEED and KENNEDY, Circuit Judges. BROWNING, Circuit Judge:

We took this case in banc to perform a simple but necessary “housekeeping” chore. The opinion in United States v. Davis, 501 F.2d 1344 (9th Cir. 1974), refers to possession of a controlled substance, prohibited by 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), as a “general intent” crime. If this means that the mental state required for conviction under section 841(a)(1) is only that the accused intend to do the act the statute prohibits, the…