Does a parent have a right to inflict corporal punishment on a child resulting in traumatic condition?

In People v. Whitehurst (1992) 9 Cal.App.4th 1045, the defendant was charged with two counts of inflicting corporal punishment on a child resulting in a traumatic condition. His defense to one count was that it did not occur; his defense to the other count was that he hit the child appropriately while disciplining her. On appeal, he claimed the trial court erred in failing to instruct sua sponte on a parent's right to discipline a child. The appellate court agreed that the right to discipline a child is not self-evident and it was error to not instruct regarding a parent's right to appropriately discipline a child. ""[W]hether the corporal punishment falls within the parameters of a parent's right to discipline involves consideration of not only the necessity for the punishment but also whether the amount of punishment was reasonable or excessive." (Id. at p. 1050.)