Cruel parenting

HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court upheld a man’s conviction for chaining up his stepson outdoors, overnight, for a year. An appeals court vacated the conviction because the charging document did not define “restrain” in terms of consent, but the information sufficed to put the defense on notice. The appeals court further misinterpreted trial evidence by concluding the stepson’s fall from the tall porch, where he was chained, could not have possibly happened while he was restrained; logical interpretation of the evidence holds the boy escaped the chain, then fell.