The Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Yachimoski, holding that a defendant who used a gate to keep his child in her room from leaving at night was entitled to a parental justification jury instruction. This case, aside from the absolute absurdity of it being prosecuted in the first place, highlights the importance of jury instructions in a criminal case. For one, it shows that jury instructions provide guidance to a jury on how to decide a case and, if provided, can help a defendant avoid a wrongful conviction. Additionally, it highlights the fact that a criminal court giving an improper jury instruction is often one of the strongest potential issues on appeal. If a jury is not instructed on a legal defense when there was evidence which would have supported that defense, then a defendant will often be entitled to a new trial.

Commonwealth v. Yachimowski

The defendant and his co-defendant (the mother of his child) were charged with endangering the welfare of a child (“EWOC”). The alleged victim in this case was their five-year-old daughter. The defendants elected to proceed by way of a jury trial and at their trial, the Commonwealth called several witnesses. The first witness was a case manager for Family Psychological Associates. She testified that at approximately 10:30 AM on May 17, 2018, she knocked on the front door of the defendants’ home. The defendant opened the door while holding a portable drill and let her in. After he let her in, the defendant walked to the doorway of his daughter’s room. According to this witness, she saw two baby gates which were stacked one on top of the other. The gates blocked the doorway into the child’s room. The defendant then used the drill to unscrew the top baby gate to allow his child to leave the room. 

The witness then stated that she saw the child chewing on either tissue paper or a paper towel. When asked why his daughter was chewing on this, the defendant responded that his daughter “was hungry.” It is worth noting that according to this witness, the child did not look like she was underfed or lacking in proper hygiene. Additionally, she testified that the home was not in disarray and that it looked normal.

The Commonwealth also called a caseworker from Clarion County Children and Youth Services (“CYS”). The caseworker testified that she had received a report that the defendant’s child was being confined in her room by the use of secured baby gates. She also testified that she, along with two Pennsylvania State Troopers, entered the defendants’ home and went to the child’s bedroom. In the room, there was a “potty chair sitting on the floor with a box of wipes and a bed.” The CYS worker asked why they were using baby gates to block the child’s doorway and they responded it was to make sure the child “didn’t get into things whenever they hadn’t gotten out of bed in the morning.” 

This was the extent of the Commonwealth’s case. After the Commonwealth rested, the co-defendant testified. She testified that they installed the baby gates in the doorway because the child “likes to get up at two or three in the morning and play” while she and the defendant are asleep. According to the co-defendant, they placed the baby gates to prevent the child’s nightly wanderings. She also testified that the CYS worker spoke to the defendants in a “raised” voice and that she told them they should not have the gates in case there was a fire. The co-defendant then testified that they “didn’t think of that when [they] put the gates up…[w]e were only doing it for [the child’s] safety.”

After being told of the dangers, they took down the gates and put them in the shed. The co-defendant reiterated that these gates were for the child’s safety. Following this testimony, the trial court permitted the Commonwealth to reopen its case. A Pennsylvania State Trooper testified that he obtained a search warrant for the defendants’ shed and they found the baby gates in the defendants’ shed with drill holes in them. They executed this search warrant during the trial because the defendants had denied fully attaching the gates to the wall.

After all the evidence was presented, the defendants’ attorneys requested that the trial court provide the jury with a parental justification instruction. The trial court denied their request because “the defendants did not use force upon or toward the child.” The jury then found the defendants guilty. The trial court sentenced the defendant to a term of nine months to two-years-less-one-day in Clarion County Jail and his co-defendant to a term of three years’ probation. The defendants then filed a post-sentence motion which was denied. They then filed a timely appeal. On appeal, the defendant raised one claim: whether the trial court erred in failing to provide a justification defense instruction. 

What is the Parental Justification Instruction? 

The Parental Justification Instructionderives from 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 509(1). That statute provides:

The use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable if:

(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 such parent, guardian or other responsible person and:

(i) the force is used for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the preventing or punishment of his misconduct; and

(ii) the force used is not designed to cause or known to create a substantial risk of causing death, serious bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress or gross degradation.

The parental justification defense defines conduct that is otherwise criminal, but which under the circumstances is socially acceptable and which deserves neither criminal liability nor even censure. The purpose of the parental justification defense is designed to balance competing interests. Finally, the parental justification defense has four statutory elements: 

1. The actor uses “force upon or toward the person of another;” 

2. The actor “is the parent or guard or other person similarly responsible for the general care and supervision of a minor or a person acting at the request of such parent, guardian or other responsible person;”

3. The force is used for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the preventing or punishment of his misconduct;” and 

4. The force used is not designed to cause or known to create a substantial risk of causing death, serious bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress or gross degradation.” 

In the instant case, the only issue in terms of whether the instruction should have been provided was the first element which was whether the defendants used “force upon or toward the person of another.” The trial court had reasoned that the defendants did not use force upon the child by simply putting up a gate, so they were not entitled to the instruction. However, in general, defendants are entitled to an instruction for any defense which could be supported by the evidence.

The Superior Court’s Decision 

The Superior Court found that the trial court committed reversible error and granted the defendant a new criminal trial. In its decision, the Superior Court analyzed the crimes code and determined that “force” was not defined. Next, the Superior Court reviewed the language of the statute. The Superior Court found that under the plain language of the statute, the defendants’ actions could constitute “the use of force toward” their child. The Superior Court found that the defendants’ actions of creating a physical barricade was a “force that was directed towards [their child].” Additionally, the Superior Court analyzed other statutes and found that confinement qualifies as a use of force in other criminal statutes. As such, the Superior Court found that the trial court erred when it did not grant this jury instruction and the defendant will get a new trial. This does not mean that the Superior Court ruled that the evidence could not possibly support a conviction of the defendants. Instead, it means that they were improperly deprived of a legal defense which was potentially supported by the evidence. The jury should have been instructed that the parents were potentially justified in using the force if they were doing it for the child’s safety. Therefore, they will receive a new trial.

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