Whether the harmless error standard should apply to a failure to instruct the jury on a contested element of the offense

QUESTION PRESENTED Based on this Court’s harmless error jurisprudence and that of seven other circuits, the government must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that an error did not contribute to the verdict. But the Third Circuit declined to apply this rule to errors involving a failure to instruct the jury on a contested element of the offense (knowledge) — even in the face of conflicting evidence — because, in the Circuit’s view, the government’s proof was “overwhelming.” Should this Court address this exception to the harmless error standard given its precedent and the division among the circuits? i