Porter v. State

We reverse appellant’s conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine in this case because the trial court failed to instruct the jury that knowledge of the illicit nature of contraband was an essential element of the crime of possession of cocaine. See Chicone v. State, 684 So.2d 736, 745 (Fla.1996). The matter was properly preserved by a specific request for an instruction. See id. at 745-46. Although the trial court offered a different instruction which was rejected, no instruction on knowledge of the nature of the substance was given. The error was not harmless where knowledge was a…