Opinion ID: 2273154
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cruel confinement.

Text: Simply put, the Commonwealth has shown us no facts that tend to prove that Mason caused M.M. to suffer cruel confinement. Indeed, the Commonwealth does not specifically cite to any conduct by Mason that even arguably could be construed as Mason's having confined M.M., cruelly or otherwise. At most, the evidence would support an inference that Mason somehow restrained M.M. by unknown means resulting in M.M.'s broken leg. But we do not believe that restraining M.M. for an unknown period, likely extremely brief in duration, by unknown means constitutes cruel confinement. In short, the Commonwealth has pointed to no evidence at all to show that M.M. was confined by Mason. The inclusion of cruel confinement language in the jury instruction was, therefore, erroneous. [23]