Kind v. United States

Larry Kind appeals his conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon, namely, a knife, with intent to use it unlawfully against another person.1 He asserts that the trial judge committed reversible error in failing to instruct the jury that the knife had to have a blade longer than three inches to qualify as a prohibited weapon within D.C.Code § 22-3214(b) (1981), the provision under which Kind was convicted.2 Case law in this jurisdiction, binding upon us as a division,3 establishes that the failure to instruct the jury on every essential element of the crime is per se reversible “plain…