DueProcess
Is the jury instruction that misstates the mens rea of the offense harmless where the sole issue at trial is the defendant's criminal intent?
QUESTION PRESENTED Danny Ray Lowe was convicted of attempting to sex traffic two fictional minors in an undercover sing. As the Court of Appeals acknowledged, “The critical issue at trial—the only real point of contention—was Mr. Lowe’s intent.” Despite the fact that the only issue presented to the jury concerned his criminal intent, the District Court erroneously instructed the jury that the mens rea is “knowledge” rather than “intent” and his counsel failed to object. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals found the error to be harmless. Is it inconsistent with this Court’s harmless error jurisprudence to find a jury instruction that misstates the mens rea of the offense harmless where the sole issue at trial is whether the defendant acted with criminal intent? i