Question
Assume it is 2022 and you are a judge who is presiding over a case where the parties are arguing about whether a statute that
Assume it is 2022 and you are a judge who is presiding over a case where the parties are arguing about whether a statute that prohibits "knowingly giving false information to a police officer" requires that the defendant merely "knowingly give false information," or that the defendant also know that the person they give false information to is a police officer. The statute in question was modified by the state legislature in 2018. Which of the following sources would be most useful for the judge to rely on in reaching their conclusion?
A. A dictionary definition of the word "knowledge." B. A transcript of the 2018 legislative session that revised the statute, indicating that a previous version of the statute included the following language: "knowingly give false information to a police officer with the knowledge that they were giving information to a police officer," but that the legislators agreed to delete the following language: "with the knowledge that they were giving information to a police officer." C. The concept of willful blindness as an alternative way to prove the mens rea of knowledge. D. A 2017 court opinion from this jurisdiction interpreting the meaning of knowledge in this statute.
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