In a dramatic legal twist that could reshape one of Florida’s most talked-about child welfare cases, a state appeals court has reversed the $213 million verdict awarded to Maya Kowalski, the teenager at the center of the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya.
The Second District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the trial court mishandled key immunity provisions protecting Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, which had reported Maya’s mother for suspected child abuse. The court found the lower court’s narrow interpretation of Florida’s child abuse reporting immunity statute was a critical legal error that tainted the entire trial.
Judges Say Trial Was “Permeated” With Legal Missteps
In a 47-page opinion, the appellate panel — Judges Edward C. LaRose, Anthony K. Black, and Andrea Teves Smith — concluded that the hospital’s actions were protected under Chapter 39 of the Florida Statutes, which grants immunity to individuals and institutions that report suspected abuse in good faith.
While the law’s immunity is not absolute and does not apply to bad faith actions, the court said there was no evidence that the hospital acted maliciously when following dependency court orders to restrict Maya’s contact with her parents.
The panel criticized the lower court for allowing the jury to hear “significant and inflammatory testimony” about the hospital’s enforcement of those restrictions — testimony the appellate judges said should have been excluded because it unfairly influenced the jury.
“The trial court’s rulings on Section 39.203(1)(a) immunity permeated the entire trial,” the court wrote. “A new trial is required on all counts not otherwise disposed of by this opinion.”
