## Facts

- Stanley Frieson Washington was the target of an undercover narcotics operation.
- On March 31, Washington sold an undercover officer and an informant approximately 26 grams of cocaine.
- On April 6, the officer arranged a second transaction; Washington made eye contact with the officer and another man delivered cocaine weighing 28.58 grams.
- Washington was indicted for trafficking in cocaine (based on the April 6 transaction), distribution of a controlled substance, and two counts of failure to affix a tax stamp.
- A jury convicted Washington on all counts.
- Washington requested a jury instruction requiring the State to prove he knew the cocaine amount exceeded 28 grams; the trial court refused.

## Issues

1. Whether Ala. Code § 13A-12-231(2) requires the State to prove the defendant knew the cocaine quantity met or exceeded 28 grams to sustain a trafficking conviction.
2. Whether the trial court erred by refusing Washington’s requested jury instruction imposing a knowledge-of-quantity requirement.

## Decision

- The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the judgment upholding Washington’s convictions.
- The court held the trafficking statute does not require proof that the defendant knew the cocaine weighed 28 grams or more.
- The court concluded the trial court properly refused the requested instruction because it misstated the law.
- The court limited earlier language suggesting a knowledge-of-quantity requirement, treating it as addressing knowing possession rather than knowledge of precise weight.

## Legal Principles

- Under Ala. Code § 13A-12-231(2), the State must prove the defendant knowingly possessed cocaine (or knowingly sold, manufactured, delivered, or brought it into the state) and that the amount in fact was 28 grams or more.
- The statute’s mens rea (“knowingly”) applies to possession (or the listed conduct) and the controlled substance, not to the statutory weight threshold.
- A defendant is not entitled to a jury instruction that adds an element the statute does not require; a trial court may refuse an instruction that misstates the governing law.

## Conclusion

The court held that cocaine trafficking under Ala. Code § 13A-12-231(2) requires proof of knowing possession and an actual quantity of at least 28 grams, but not proof that the defendant knew the quantity met the statutory threshold, so refusing a contrary jury instruction was proper.


Ex parte Washington, 818 So. 2d 424 (Ala. 2001)