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Oral Argument Before the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals–CAAP-15-0000071

CAAP-15-0000071, Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 10 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ZARA T.L. BARAWIS, Defendant-Appellant.

The above-captioned case has been set for argument on the merits at:

Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali iolani Hale, 2nd Floor
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

Attorney for Defendant-Appellant:

Teri M. Wright, Deputy Public Defender

Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee:

Dale Yamada Ross, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

COURT: Nakamura, C.J., Fujise and Leonard, JJ.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief Description:

Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai`i (State) charged Defendant-Appellant Zara T.L. Barawis (Barawis) with abuse of a family or household member, in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 709-906(1) (2014). The complaining witness (CW) was Barawis’s niece and was eleven years old at the time of the alleged offense.

After a bench trial, the Family Court of the Third Circuit (Family Court) found Barawis guilty as charged. In rendering its verdict, the Family Court found that the CW’s mother did not give Barawis consent or permission to exercise parental discipline over the CW and that the “parental discipline defense” under HRS § 703-309(1) (2014) did not apply.

Barawis appeals from the Judgment entered by the Family Court. On appeal, Barawis argues that: (1) the Family Court erred in holding that the parental discipline defense under HRS § 703-309(1) is not applicable in this case; (2) the Family Court erred in excluding evidence of household rules, which Barawis claims are relevant to her defense under HRS § 703-309(1); and (3) the State failed to negate her defense under HRS § 703-309(1).