Johnson v. State

The appellant was convicted of sale or delivery of cocaine, as proscribed by section 893.13(l)(a)(l), Florida Statutes. In this appeal he challenges the constitutionality of that statute, in that it makes the offense a felony without requiring that guilty knowledge be an element of the crime. Relying on language in Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994), and Chicone v. State, 684 So.2d 736 (Fla.1996), the appellant argues that this offends substantive due process. Staples and Chicone referred to regulatory offenses in the public welfare, and the level…