The state has lost its appeal of a judge’s ruling in which the state Department of Human Services was found negligent, along with a Navy diver based at Pearl Harbor, in the 2009 death of the sailor’s 14-month-old boy.
Circuit Judge Gary W.B. Chang awarded the boy’s maternal grandmother, Terri Polm, as representative of his estate, approximately $134,000 from the state and more than $250,000 from the father in the wrongful-death lawsuit that found both responsible in the death of Brayden McVeigh, lawyers for Polm said.
The boy’s father, Matthew McVeigh, who was found guilty at court-martial of killing Brayden by striking his head and shaking his body, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to court records.
The state now has to decide whether to appeal the case to the Hawaii Supreme Court as interest on the monetary award accrues, officials said.
Lawyers in the state attorney general’s office are reviewing the latest decision and will be meeting with Attorney General Russell Suzuki to decide what to do next, said spokeswoman Anne Lopez.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals on Dec. 30 affirmed the lower court ruling, which noted a "failure" by DHS to properly document injuries to Brayden and disseminate that information to other child welfare professionals, as well as "inaccuracy and sloppiness of DHS record-keeping."
"It is undisputed that the decedent fell within the class of children DHS is statutorily obligated to protect and that DHS had a duty to prevent further abuse to him," the appeals court stated.
On appeal, DHS contended that 16 of the Circuit Court’s 71 "findings of fact" were clearly erroneous and eight of 37 "conclusions of law" were wrong.
The appeals court rejected the state’s assertions.
Chang wrote in his August 2013 ruling that Brayden McVeigh had a brief life that was "marred by violence and pain."
At birth Brayden tested positive for opiates resulting from his mother April’s prescribed methadone treatment and subsequent addiction, Chang said.
The father was subject to intermittent fits of anger or violence, the judge said.
At 5 weeks old, Brayden experienced a traumatic fracture of his right upper arm, and Chang said there was evidence the child suffered multiple injuries resulting in black eyes and bruises.
It was in August 2008 that DHS classified Brayden’s broken arm as suspected abuse and neglect — taking the boy and his sister into custody and temporarily placing them in foster care, according to court records.
But when the children were returned to their parents six months later, a DHS social worker repeatedly dropped the ball in monitoring Brayden’s well-being, Chang found.
Because Brayden already was known to DHS to have been the victim of "suspected severe child abuse and neglect," a policy known as the "Green Book" placed him at a higher risk of re-harm and required immediate steps to assess any such harm, the judge said.
Chang said DHS social worker Gwenson Yuen, Brayden’s caseworker, didn’t log a black eye observed on the boy into a mandatory record-keeping system — which would have raised red flags with later injuries — and didn’t take other required steps in the case.
Yuen at one point was under the impression that reports of black eyes months apart were just one incident and not two, Chang said.
The attorney general’s office argued that Polm failed to prove DHS should have anticipated Matthew McVeigh’s criminal conduct.
DHS’ "frequent in-person visits with the family," home visits by a Navy social worker, as well as numerous doctor visits, did not create a basis for again removing either child from the parents, state lawyers said.
"There is no evidence that DHS made a mistake in its handling of this matter or that its actions more likely than not contributed to Brayden’s death," the state said.
