Commonwealth v. Witherspoon

OLSZEWSKI, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Steven Witherspoon, was convicted at bench trial of simple assault. We reverse.

¶ 2 Witherspoon ran an amateur boxing camp for disadvantaged youth and made extensive use of volunteer trainers and assistants. Shortly after he enrolled his two sons in the program, Mark Saldivar, Sr. asked to volunteer and Witherspoon placed him in charge of supervising youths that were practicing their sparring skills. Soon after assuming his duties, however, Saldivar ridiculed a child for not following his instructions and Witherspoon pulled him from the task, suggesting that he did…