Opinion
No. 4-286 / 02-1836.
June 9, 2004.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.
James Dale Magneson II appeals his jury convictions on two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. AFFIRMED.
Van Plumb, West Des Moines, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Sharon Hall, Assistant Attorney General, John Sarcone, County Attorney, and Susan Cox, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee-State.
Considered by Huitink, P.J., Miller, J., and Harris, S.J.
Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2003).
Decision without published opinion. Affirmed.
James Dale Magneson appeals his jury convictions on two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment in violation of Iowa Code section 626.6(1)(a) (2001). He claims there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction on either count. Because we think there was, we affirm.
The victim was Magneson's own nine-year-old son (J.M.). Magneson argues he was merely trying to discipline J.M. Parental rights between J.M. and Magneson (as well as between J.M. and his mother) were terminated. J.M. has been adopted by his paternal grandmother, so father and son have much contact.
The counts resulted from two incidents at a Des Moines hospital where Magneson was visiting a friend. He became unhappy when J.M. wished to visit one of his own friends who apparently was also there. The first incident occurred outside the surgical intensive care unit where Magneson became furious with J.M. and yelled at him to "sit the fuck down and stay the fuck there." Magneson grabbed the crying child by his arms and three times forcefully pushed him down to the floor. J.M. kept getting up and called out, "No, Dad, stop. You always hit me." The third time J.M. got up Magneson pushed him into the wall and said, "We're going to leave and I'm going to beat your ass." J.M. was very scared and upset and, according to the State's witnesses, the confrontation left red marks on J.M.'s biceps.
The second incident occurred after Magneson did start to leave the hospital. Magneson shoved a nurse aside, grabbed J.M.'s arm and "whipped" him into a wooden guardrail using even more force than he had used in the first incident. The force caused J.M. to hit the side of his head on a rail, fall to the floor, and curl "up in a fetal position," crying. As this happened J.M. again protested, "Quit hitting me, you always hit me." Magneson again denied he was hitting him and warned him about what would happen when they got to the car.
Iowa law "recognizes parents have a right to inflict corporal punishment on their child, but that right is restricted by moderation and reasonableness." State v. Arnold, 543 N.W.2d 600, 603 (Iowa 1996); see also Hildreth v. Iowa Dep't of Human Servs., 550 N.W.2d 157, 159 (Iowa 1996). Corrective discipline "must be for the purpose of behavior modification rather than to satisfy the passions of an enraged parent." Arnold, 543 N.W.2d at 603. Whether a parent's conduct goes beyond reasonable correction depends on whether "the amount of force used or the means employed by the parent rendered such punishment abusive rather than corrective in character." Id. A determination of reasonableness varies with a child's age, physical condition, and the nature of the child's misconduct. Id.
The evidence here, taken in the light most consistent with the verdict, justifies a jury finding that the punishment inflicted by Magneson was unreasonable, was a reaction to his own passions and anger, and was not a reasonable attempt to modify J.M.'s behavior.