Simms v. United States

SCHWELB, Associate Judge:

Following a jury trial, Theodore R. Simms, Jr., was found guilty of simple assault. The jury acquitted Simms of aggravated assault, first-degree cruelty to children, and second-degree cruelty to children. At the time of the offense, the victim, William Calloway, who was the son of Simms’ fiancée, Pauline Calloway, was fourteen months old.

On appeal, Simms contends that he was acting in loco parentis and that the trial judge committed reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury on the defense of reasonable parental discipline. The government responds, inter alia,…