Legal Juice
Hawaiian mom Ijeva Matavele had not been pleased when her 14-year-old daughter failed 2 classes. The girl agreed to get tutoring, and things … did not improve. As reported in the Honolulu Advertiser:
The daughter… skipped tutoring classes and hung out with friends. On the day her report card was due, the daughter — even though she was reminded by the mother to bring it home — said she forgot it at school, but eventually disclosed her grades included four C’s, one D and one incomplete.
When the mother demanded to know why the grades hadn’t improved, the daughter refused to answer. The mother then grabbed a plastic backpack containing a school folder and jacket and hit the daughter on the left arm as the girl tried to block the blow.
The daughter disclosed she had not been going to tutoring. When the mother demanded to know where she had gone instead, the girl refused to answer, prompting the mother to hit her with a plastic hanger about five times.
When the girl said she had been hanging out with friends, the mother felt deceived, got a small car brush and hit the daughter on the top of the left hand and on the knuckles with a plastic handle of a tool.
Ms. Matavele was charged with child abuse. So what happened? Hung jury. Then conviction. Then conviction affirmed by appellate court. Then conviction tossed by a 3-2 vote of the Hawai’i Supreme Court.