90 Hawai'i 85, State v. Stocker
| Citation | 90 Hawaii 85,976 P.2d 399 |
| Decision Date | 19 February 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 21277,21277 |
| Parties | 90 Hawai'i 85 STATE of Hawai'i, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kent D. STOCKER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Hawai'i |
Laura Yoshida, Deputy Public Defender, on the briefs, for Defendant-Appellant Kent D. Stocker.
Alexa D.M. Fujise, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, on the briefs, for Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai'i.
The defendant-appellant Kent D. Stocker appeals from his guilty conviction of, and sentence for, one count of harassment, in violation of Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 711-1106(1)(a) (Supp.1998). 1 On appeal, Stocker argues that insufficient evidence was adduced to prove that: (1) he committed harassment, pursuant to HRS § 711-1106(1)(a); and (2) his actions were not justified by the parental discipline defense, pursuant to HRS § 703-309(1) (1993). 2 We agree with Stocker that the prosecution failed to adduce sufficient evidence to rebut his justification defense. Accordingly, we reverse his judgment, guilty conviction, and sentence.
On October 2, 1997, Stocker was charged by way of complaint with one count of harassment, in violation of HRS § 711-1106. A bench trial was conducted in the family court of the first circuit on December 16, 1997. The following evidence was adduced at trial.
Joann Leiwalo testified that she and Stocker had been divorced for three years prior to the incident giving rise to the present case. As a result of the divorce, Leiwalo gained "full custody" of the couple's two children, Shane Stocker (hereinafter, Shane), an eleven-year-old boy, and Lekisha Stocker (hereinafter, Lekisha), an eight-year-old girl. Both Leiwalo and Stocker testified, however, that Stocker retained "visitation rights." Stocker described his visitation rights as follows: "I'm allowed to see the children--I'm allowed to pick them up on Fridays and drop them off on Sundays." 3 Moreover, Stocker was allowed to call his children on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, Stocker testified that he frequently missed his scheduled visitation because
On Friday, June 20, 1997, 4 Stocker went to Leiwalo's parent's home in Pearl City, in the City and County of Honolulu, to give Shane a birthday card. Stocker testified that, due to strained relations between himself and Leiwalo's parents, he made a point of not entering their home without their permission. Although, according to Shane's testimony, Leiwalo's mother was at home, Stocker apparently did not request permission to enter. Instead, he remained in the doorway while talking with Shane and Lekisha.
Shane testified that, when Stocker arrived, Shane brought his two chameleons to the door to show them to his father. 5 Stocker then "flung" several birthday cards and an envelope with money at Shane's chest. At several points during his testimony, Shane claimed that Stocker had "punched" him in the chest. However, at another point, he testified that Stocker had hit him in the chest "only [with] the cards" and not "with anything else." Similarly, at several points, Shane testified that the "punch" had occurred while Stocker was "playing with [him]." At other points, however, Shane testified that Stocker had "punched" him because "he was mad at [him]" and that the "punch" had been thrown "when [Stocker] wasn't playing around." Shane agreed that he had been upset because he "felt [that his] dad ... was playing too rough [.]" Stocker told Shane that he wanted Shane to accompany him to his home. Shane told his father that he did not want to do so and went back into the house to watch television while Stalker conversed with Lekisha.
At some later point, Stocker directed Shane to come back to the door, but Shane refused. Indeed, Stocker asked Shane to return "more than once." Shane testified that Stocker "was yelling" at him at the time. Shane was already crying because Stocker had "punched [him] in the chest before--after he was flinging the cards." Stocker then slapped Shane "on one side of [his] face" with "an open hand." Shane described the force of the blow as "between the hard and soft" and agreed that it "didn't hurt ... [o]nly hurt a little bit." He admitted that he had not been bruised or marked as a result of the slap. Asked how the slap felt, Shane answered, "I don't know, just started to make me cry."
Afterwards, Stocker apparently calmed down and joked with Shane about kissing him. Instead, he shook Shane's hand and then left.
Lekisha testified that Stocker He then showed Shane a birthday card and an envelope with money in it. Stocker later "screamed" at Shane to come to him and "Shane started crying." Stocker seemed to become angry. Lekisha did not testify that Stocker slapped Shane.
Leiwalo testified that, on June 20, 1997, she received a telephone call at work from Shane, who was "crying hysterically." She left work and went to her parents' home. When she arrived, Shane was still crying and "his face was red ... 'cause he was crying I guess so much." Shane told her That was "the only place that Shane complained of[.]" He also told her that Stocker had hit him because "[h]e just didn't want to go to his father[.]" Leiwalo did not notice any injuries on Shane.
Following Leiwalo's testimony, the prosecution rested its case-in-chief. Stocker made an oral motion for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the prosecution had adduced insufficient evidence to convict him and to rebut his defense of parental discipline. During the arguments, the family court observed that After argument, the family court denied the motion, ruling that, "as to ... the slap as opposed to the punch," the prosecution had adduced enough evidence for a reasonable mind to conclude that Stocker was guilty.
Stocker testified in his own defense, inter alia, that he did not remember punching Shane. He testified that he had "probably" scolded Shane when he refused to come to him when called and that he had "probably raised [his] voice and told him, get over here now[.]" He further testified that he did not recall slapping Shane, but "if I did anything like that at all, it was probably a playful kind of thing or a little just--... check yourself kind of thing[.]" He elaborated that he He denied doing anything to "hurt Shane on that day." He admitted that Leiwalo had custody of both of their children and that he retained only visitation rights.
Prior to closing arguments, the family court stated that, The family court further indicated that "[t]he one issue in my mind is the proportionality. " (Emphasis added.) After arguments, the family court reiterated that "[t]he punch, I throw out, because I don't believe the government has proved it[ ]s case." However, noting this court's opinion in State v. Crouser, 81 Hawai'i 5, 911 P.2d 725 (1996), the family court observed, with regard to the slap, that,
even if we assume that this is reasonably believed necessary to protect the welfare of the recipient, and I agree a parent has the right and the obligation to ... discipline his child ... [,] I don't know if this is reasonably proportioned. That's the one hang up I have here. I mean when a child doesn't come to you, I agree that you have right to discipline. And now, whether that includes a slap across that face--that's the part that I have a problem with.
The family court described its understanding of the facts as follows:
THE COURT: ... [Y]ou have the state of facts where someone is punched in the chest, whether in play or--I'm not sure why that occurred, that never was made clear. Boy starts to cry, he steps back, whether from force of the blow or not, it's not made clear either.
Boy goes to the couch, father says to come over here. Father--boy refuses to. And then father slaps boy across the face as a means of discipline for his refusal to come over. I think that's basically the fact pattern here, isn't it?
(Emphases added.)
Finally, the family court found Stocker guilty as follows:
THE COURT: ... Well, it's a close case. Mr. Stocker, I am going to find the government has proved it[ ]s case beyond a reasonable doubt.
This may be something that should be resolved at the appellate court level. I think that is the one thing I cannot find, that the slap under these circumstances was reasonably proportional to the misconduct being punished. Okay.
So, you know, we may have to have this resolved in the appellate courts. It's a difficult question.
(Emphasis added.) After the family court announced its verdict, the following colloquy occurred:
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