Opinion ID: 871615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Substantial evidence supports Kiese's conviction for harassment.

Text: Kiese's first challenge is to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for harassment. Under HRS § 711-1106(1)(a), the State's burden at trial was to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kiese struck, shoved, kicked, or otherwise touched the Minor in an offensive manner (or subjected the Minor to offensive physical contact), with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm the Minor. The State also had the burden of disproving the parental justification defense raised by Kiese beyond a reasonable doubt. As a threshold matter, several of the family court's findings of fact were not challenged before the ICA by either the State or Kiese. As such, those facts are binding upon the appellate courts. See Kelly v. 1250 Oceanside Partners, 111 Hawai`i 205, 227, 140 P.3d 985, 1007 (2006). Specifically, neither the State nor Kiese disputes the family court's findings that Kiese slapped the Minor in the face; struck the Minor more than five times with a bamboo stick with enough force to leave visible welts the next morning; or that photographs taken the day after the alleged incident and entered into evidence depict the red slash marks on Minor's hand and arms and the red slap mark left on Minor's face. Kiese's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, therefore, is not as to whether he made offensive contact with the Minor. Rather, his challenge is to whether those actions were accompanied with the requisite intent to harass, alarm, or annoy the Minor. Assuming intent was proven, Kiese also challenges his conviction on the basis that the State failed to disprove his parental justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt. Specifically, Kiese asserts that the State did not disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the force he employed was with due regard to the Minor's age and size. Our review of challenges to the sufficiency of evidence is deferential to the trial court: We have long held that evidence adduced in the trial court must be considered in the strongest light for the prosecution when the appellate court passes on the legal sufficiency of such evidence to support a conviction; the same standard applies whether the case was before a judge or a jury. The test on appeal is not whether guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt, but whether there was substantial evidence to support the conclusion of the trier of fact. Indeed, even if it could be said in a bench trial that the conviction is against the weight of the evidence, as long as there is substantial evidence to support the requisite findings for conviction, the trial court will be affirmed. Substantial evidence as to every material element of the offense charged is credible evidence which is of sufficient quality and probative value to enable [a person] of reasonable caution to support a conclusion. And as trier of fact, the trial judge is free to make all reasonable and rational inferences under the facts in evidence, including circumstantial evidence. State v. Matavale, 115 Hawai`i 149, 157-58, 166 P.3d 322, 330-31 (2007) (citation omitted). Addressing the issue of intent, we have long held that intent can be proven inferentially: The law recognizes the difficulty by which intent is proved in criminal cases. We have consistently held that since intent can rarely be proved by direct evidence, proof by circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences arising from circumstances surrounding the act is sufficient to establish the requisite intent. Thus, the mind of an alleged offender may be read from his acts, conduct, and inferences fairly drawn from all the circumstances. State v. Sadino, 64 Haw. 427, 430, 642 P.2d 534, 536-37 (1982) (citations omitted). In this case, although Kiese testified that his overriding intent in striking the Minor was disciplinary, there was substantial evidence at trial supporting the family court's conclusion that Kiese intended to harass, annoy, or alarm the Minor. Although it is undisputed that the Minor's behavior had escalated over the course of three days and that taking away his privileges had not been effective, Kiese testified that a spanking with his hand probably would have corrected the misbehavior. Instead, Kiese chose to slap the Minor in the face and strike him with a bamboo stick at least five times with enough force to leave red welts visible the next day. The Minor also testified that the strikes hurt and he cried. Kiese argues that State v. Stocker stands for the proposition that a reasonable inference of intent to convict a parent for harassment can be drawn when it is shown that the parent strikes his child after becoming angry and `yelling[.]' 90 Hawai`i 85, 92, 976 P.2d 399, 406 (1999). Therefore, Kiese argues, because he did not become angry and yell at the Minor, no reasonable inference can be drawn that he possessed the requisite intent. We agree with Kiese's summary of Stocker, but we disagree with the conclusion he draws. Instead, we look to Kiese's actions and all of the other surrounding circumstances. Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, substantial evidence supports the reasonable inference that Kiese acted with the requisite intent to harass, annoy, or alarm the Minor. The ICA did not gravely err in so concluding. Kiese also challenges his conviction on the basis that the State failed to disprove that his conduct was justified as parental discipline. We find his argument unpersuasive. The Matavale plurality reaffirmed the well-established principle that a parent's right to direct his or her child's upbringing is of constitutional dimension. 115 Hawai`i at 158, 166 P.3d at 331 (citation omitted). The state, on the other hand, also possesses an interest in protecting child welfare. See id. To strike a balance between the two interests, the legislature created HRS § 703-309 (1993), which stakes out the boundaries of a parent's privilege to exercise physical control over a child in the face of a criminal charge. That statute provides (as it did at the time of the alleged offense): Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others. The use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable under the following circumstances: (1) The actor is the parent or guardian or other person similarly responsible for the general care and supervision of a minor, or a person acting at the request of the parent, guardian, or other responsible person, and: (a) The force is employed with due regard for the age and size of the minor and is reasonably related to the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the prevention or punishment of the minor's misconduct; and (b) The force used is not designed to cause or known to create a risk of causing substantial bodily injury, [5] disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage. The defendant bears the initial burden of production with respect to the facts necessary to put the parental discipline defense at issue. Stocker, 90 Hawai`i at 95, 976 P.2d at 409. The burden then shifts to the State to disprove the justification evidence that was adduced or to prove facts negativing the justification defense, and to do so beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Kaimimoku, 9 Haw.App. 345, 350, 841 P.2d 1076, 1079 (1992) (citations omitted). Because the requirements of HRS § 703-309(1) are set out in the conjunctive, rather than the disjunctive, the prosecution needed only to disprove one element beyond a reasonable doubt to defeat the justification defense. State v. Crouser, 81 Hawai`i 5, 11, 911 P.2d 725, 731 (1996). In this case, the State does not dispute that Kiese is a parent responsible for the general care and supervision of the Minor, so subsection (1)'s requirements are met. As to subsection (1)(a)'s requirements, the State's burden is to prove that the force employed by Kiese was without due regard for the age and size of the minor or was not actually (subjective) and reasonably (objective) believed necessary to protect the welfare of the [minor.] State v. Thate, 106 Hawai`i 252, 265, 103 P.3d 412, 425 (App.2004). Lastly, although subsection (1)(b) sets forth various kinds of prohibited force, physical discipline may be so excessive that it is no longer reasonably related to safeguarding the welfare of the minor, even if it does not exceed the bounds set in subsection (b). Crouser, 81 Hawai`i at 12, 911 P.2d at 732. Most recently, the Matavale plurality explained that reasonableness of force turns on the totality of the facts and circumstances of each case: The means used to effect the discipline must also be reasonable. In determining whether force is reasonable, the fact finder must consider the child's age, the child's stature, and the nature of the injuries inflicted, i.e., whether the force used was designed to cause or known to create a risk of causing substantial bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage given the child's age and size. These required factors are obviously general in nature and, by their very terms, place a large amount of discretion with the courts to determine whether the actions of a parent fall within the parameters of parental discipline, as set forth in HRS § 703-309(1). Clearly, there is no bright line that dictates what, under all circumstances, is unreasonable or excessive corporal punishment. Rather, the permissible degree of force will vary according to the child's physique and age, the misconduct of the child, the nature of the discipline, and all the surrounding circumstances. It necessarily follows that the question of reasonableness or excessiveness of physical punishment given a child by a parent is determined on a case-by-case basis and is dependent upon the particular circumstances of the case. 115 Hawai`i at 164-65, 166 P.3d at 337-38 (emphasis in original). Kiese cites Matavale and State v. Robertson, No. 28683, 2009 WL 4300387 (App. Nov. 30, 2009) (mem.), [6] in which convictions for abuse of a family or household member were reversed because each parent's justification defense was not disproven under circumstances in which the parent used an implement to strike the child, leaving bruises upon the child. Kiese argues that the ICA gravely erred in affirming his conviction, thereby casting the law of parental discipline in disarray. We disagree. Insofar as due regard for the age and size of the minor is the sole issue related to the parental justification defense on certiorari, Matavale is of limited use to Kiese. In that case, the minor daughter was fourteen years old and 150-154 pounds. 115 Hawai`i at 165, 166 P.3d at 338. Furthermore, the minor daughter in Matavale testified that although her mother hit her multiple times with plastic implements, the strikes were not very hard and did not hurt that much. See id. The six-year-old Minor in this case, on the other hand, testified that his father's strikes hurt and he cried. The strikes also left visible welts. Second, insofar as every parental discipline case turns on its own unique facts and circumstances, and insofar as the Robertson memorandum opinion is, at most, persuasive, it too is of limited use to Kiese. In that case, a father disciplined his eight-year-old son for lying about receiving a bad-day note from school by striking him about eight times on the buttocks with a folded belt. Robertson, mem. op. at 3. The child testified that he felt sad and cried after the spanking, but other witnesses testified that later that night and the next day, the child was not in pain and was able to resume his normal activities. See id. at 3-4. In reversing Robertson 's conviction, the ICA noted that it was not unreasonable for father to conclude that corporal punishment was warranted after nonphysical disciplinary measures failed. See id. at 9. In this case, Kiese did not just resort to corporal punishment after nonphysical disciplinary measures failed. Rather, he stepped up the nature of the corporal punishment in excess of what he admitted probably would have worked. In any event, Robertson is not binding precedent. In this case, Kiese slapped the six-year-old Minor on the face and struck him multiple times with a bamboo stick on the buttocks, causing him to feel pain and to cry, and leaving visible red welts a day after the incident. Furthermore, the evidence adduced at trial was that the Minor was a thin, slight, boy, no more than four feet tall, and that Kiese was much larger. In the light most favorable to the State, substantial evidence exists to support the conclusion that the force Kiese employed was without due regard for the age and size of the minor, disproving Kiese's parental justification defense. Lastly, none of the challenged findings of fact are clearly erroneous. First, as to challenged Findings of Fact Numbers 1 and 13, testimony adduced at trial reflected only that the Minor was too playful at school; there was no testimony or other evidence that his behavior was dangerous. Second, Finding of Fact Number 4 is not clearly erroneous, as Ayako testified that when she came home, the Minor either was crying or had finished crying. Third, Finding of Fact Number 16 regarding the family court's visual observations and comparisons of Kiese's and the Minor's size is entitled to deference. Lastly, the sole conclusion of law challenged on appeal is correct. Based on the totality of circumstances in this case, substantial evidence exists to support the conclusion that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the force Kiese employed against the Minor was without due regard for his age and size, and therefore disproved his parental justification defense. Therefore, substantial evidence supports Kiese's harassment conviction.