United States v. Louis
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
861 F.3d 1330 (2017)
Terry Pierre Louis (defendant), an employee of a ship owner under federal surveillance, drove a car containing two boxes the shipowner had ordered placed in the back seat, with the shipowner walking alongside as Louis drove slowly through the dockyard; when police blocked the exit, Louis fled on foot, and the boxes were found to contain 111 bricks of cocaine. A jury convicted Louis of possession with intent to distribute, and he appealed, arguing the government failed to prove he specifically knew the boxes contained cocaine rather than some other type of contraband.
Whether a conviction for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance requires proof that the defendant knew the contraband in his possession was specifically a controlled substance, rather than contraband of some other sort.