## Facts

- Police searched James Patrick Taylor’s residence and found methamphetamine, marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, a firearm, and cash.
- About six months later, officers searched a storage room leased by Taylor and found drugs, firearms and ammunition, and a cane sword.
- Taylor was charged and convicted in consolidated cases that included, among other counts, possession of a cane sword in violation of former Penal Code § 12020(a).
- At trial, the court did not instruct the jury that conviction required proof Taylor knew the cane concealed a sword.
- Taylor appealed, arguing the cane-sword offense is not strict liability and requires a knowledge element.

## Issues

1. Whether possession of a “cane sword” under former Penal Code § 12020(a) requires proof the defendant knew the cane concealed a sword, or instead imposes strict liability.
2. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct on the knowledge element.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal held the cane-sword offense under former Penal Code § 12020(a) is not strict liability.
- The court construed the statute to require proof the defendant knew the cane concealed a sword.
- The trial court erred by omitting this element from the jury instructions.
- The cane-sword conviction was reversed.
- The judgment was otherwise affirmed.

## Legal Principles

- Criminal statutes are generally presumed to include a mens rea element unless the Legislature clearly indicates an intent to impose strict liability.
- Strict-liability construction is disfavored, particularly where it risks punishing apparently innocent conduct.
- When an item’s dangerous nature is concealed and the object may appear ordinary (such as a cane that conceals a blade), legislative intent is best effectuated by requiring knowledge of the concealed characteristic.
- Failure to instruct the jury on an essential element of an offense constitutes instructional error requiring reversal of the affected conviction.

## Conclusion

The court interpreted former Penal Code § 12020(a) to require proof that a defendant knew a cane actually concealed a sword and reversed Taylor’s cane-sword conviction because the jury was not instructed on that element, while leaving the remainder of the judgment intact.


People v. Taylor, 93 Cal. App. 4th 933 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001)