Assault & Battery: Threatening Somebody With a Knife

This happened in Canada where the legal drinking age is 19. Just looking for some broad details of what the US laws are in this situation:

So the other night my buddy and I were out drinking on my 19th birthday. When the bar was on last call a 50 year old man came over and asked if we wanted to go back to his place to keep the night going "I have a fridge full of 48 beers boys" is exactly what he said. Being young and dumb we took him up on his offer. Once we arrived back at his apartment it was very small and had little furnishing my friend and myself begin to worry this wasn't the best decision. This really settled in when he started making ludicrous comments like "I could kill you now, throw you in a ditch and no one would ever know." He said this multiple times, maybe he meant this as a joke but to myself and my friend it didn't seem like a very funny one. Later on after a few more drinks my friend and him started talking about each others mothers and how they had a rough childhood. He then invited my friend into his bedroom to continue the conversation in a more "private" environment. This set red flags off with me as my friend was probably too drunk to realize what was happening. Immediately I grabbed my jacket and felt for my money when my friend in him were in the other room. I found my money was gone missing. I felt like he wouldn't be able to leave the apartment willingly so I grabbed a knife and said "friend come out here this guy stole my money and trying to get on you. Where is my money?" He started to walk toward me. "I said back up, I'm leaving and I think you should leave too" to my friend. We ran to the nearest place possible, I left without shoes and dropped the knife. When we got to an establishment my friend realized his wallet was gone. We called the police to report the incident. Gave them all this information. I realized the next day that my money had fallen down a hole in my jacket pocket. The police called and say this guy could press charges.

So my question is: Can I go to jail for this even though I thought I was endangered and my life was threatened? Is my best defence my friend and my testimony saying he could kill us throw us in a ditch? What do you reckon will become of this?

Assault & Battery: Threatening Somebody With a Knife

Other Injuries: Is a County Immune from a Lawsuit Alleging Negligence in Training of Volunteers

A county law enforcement agency organizes and manages a team of volunteers for search and rescue. Volunteers are provided training in CPR by agency and are certified by qualifying agency on successful course completion. Qualifying agency requires defib unit training as part of CPR. While requiring volunteers to be certified with qualifying agency card, the law enforcement agency mgr has arbitrarily decided to not require defib training for volunteers.

Technically, the CPR card is invalid since AED training and testing, required for it, was not provided. If a volunteer is engaged in a County activity, and either fails to render first aid when needed, or renders it incorrectly with serious injury or death resulting, irrespective of their level or adequacy of training, are they immune from any and all liability due to the CA Good Samaritan Act?

Just as importantly, is the law enforcement agency immune from a negligence claim if their volunteer with a CPR card (signifying defib/Automatic Electronic Defibrillation (AED) unit competence) fails to render defib first aid with death resulting, or renders it with death resulting due to incompetence caused by the agency's arbitrary decision to eliminate related training required for the volunteer's CPR certification? (See CCR HSC Section 1799 series, and particularly 1799.102(a) regarding Good Samaritan law and exceptions.)

My intuition tells me that a volunteer trained by an agency and working under their control is not subject to liability for rendering emergency first aid, but that the County would be liable if injury or death results from the volunteer's actions resulting as a consequence of lack of training tied to the arbitrary decision by the County to eliminate a portion of training (AED) otherwise made a part CPR training and as a requirement for issuance by the qualifying agency of a CPR card required by the law enforcement agency of the volunteer.

Does the law enforcement agency put taxpayers in the county at risk for liabilities, connected to volunteers it supervises and utilizes to fulfill its mandates, resulting from arbitrarily gutting of a portion of training it otherwise requires, en toto, for CPR certification of its volunteers? Does it put its volunteers, denied AED training as a required part of CPR certification, at risk of negligence lawsuit in a worst-case scenario? Can such a decision to eliminate AED training, thereby technically invalidating volunteers' CPR certifications, be made with immunity from any related liability by the agency's medically-untrained manager of volunteers? Anyone out there in CA or in a state with similar Good Samaritan and strict liability/negligence laws been up against this sort of thing before?

Other Injuries: Is a County Immune from a Lawsuit Alleging Negligence in Training of Volunteers

Termination of Support: Child Support Reimbursement to Ncp

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: CA

Dad and I have a stipulation in the process of being re-filed with the courts. The stipulation was signed in mid/late September by dad, his counsel, and my counsel but I did not sign the stipulation until yesterday b/c counsel (unsure who - if it was his counsel’s office or my counsel’s office) submitted the stipulation to courts without retaining my signature. I inquired about the status of the stipulation continuously (called and emailed my counsel’s office continuously) but I didn’t get much of status report until a week ago. The stipulation that is being re-filed states that “Child Support shall be set at $0 (pursuant to family code 4065 etc.), arrears will be set at $0, and that petitioner/mother shall have sole physical and sole legal custody of minor child. Any visitation to father shall be at the discretion of the mother with the child’s best interests in mind.”

My counsel’s office warned me via email yesterday (when I finally received the stipulation for me to sign and submit) that opposing counsel is requesting that I reimburse my son’s father for Child Support paid to me via garnished wages through DCSS, from Oct 2015 up until now. Presently his wages are still being garnished. I told my attorney’s office that I am not reimbursing dad for Child Support already paid.
Dad ended visitation with our son on his own accord before signing the stipulation in June. We have zero contact. He only had visitation with our son for maybe 6 months.

Dad owes me child care costs that add up to 3K, which I invoiced him following the court guidelines prior to October. At this point I am not asking for any reimbursement. I did tell my attorney’s office that if opposing counsel is going to insist that I reimburse dad for child support already paid that I was going to request that he reimburse child care that he still owes.

Will the courts enforce that I reimburse dad child support paid even though the stipulation was not signed by me until yesterday, and the judge and child support services has yet to see/sign stipulation?

Termination of Support: Child Support Reimbursement to Ncp

Modification of Custody: My 13 Year Old Has Asked for Months to Stay Primarily with Me. Can I Do Anything

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Tennessee

Since she was 5 years old my daughter has been in a somewhat odd custody arrangement with her mother and I. She stays with her mother half of the week and me the other half. To avoid having to pay me child support they set things up so that her mother is responsible for my daughter's medical needs.
My daughter is now 13 and I don't even remember why this arrangement ever really made a lot of sense in all honesty, but her mother certainly doesn't handle the medical needs well at all. She always schedules things on my days then tells me when I have to take her to a doctor's office instead of asking if I will be free to do so, and trying to communicate with her has always been pointless because she just asks her husband what to do and goes with whatever he says.
It may be worth mentioning that this divorce happened after 5 years of my wife cheating on me with the man she moved out with less than 2 months after I left her over it, and that is also who she married. Of course it hurts me to have the man who broke up my marriage making all of the decisions for my daughter while there and helping to raise her as her step-father, but it is what it is...

Anyway, every time they ask for extra days with her and I agree to it, they bring her back hours or even a day late without answering my calls or texts. They take her out of school for random things on my days sometimes and tell me nothing at all until they drop her off at my door hours later, again not answering calls or texts, leaving me worried sick and on the verge of calling the police. Communication has always been so bad with them that for the last year I have made it clear we will only stick to exactly what the custody agreement says, and anything they plan to do with or for her MUST be done on their own days, not mine. They still ask me to keep her longer or let them have her longer for vacations and such, but I have been adamant that we stay with the set schedule to avoid issues. This has worked out much better.

As for what my daughter says though: She has told me for years that they all but totally ignore her over there and only seem to care about her little brother, the child they had together. I believe my daughter but wouldn't just act on the word of a 13 year old. However, this has been proven time and time again as they have tried to put my daughter in a terrible rated school just because it was within walking distance to their home. They get her to school late or not at all often because they just don't bother to wake up, and they put their son in a special private school that is a good drive from their home. I could go on with examples, but best not to write a book here. The point is, she feels she isn't important to them there and never has been. She has been asking me for months "Since around August last year" to let her stay with me primarily and have planned visits with her mother (weekends, summer breaks, whatever).
For months I said no because I figured it was just a phase. I told her that if she wants that, she should tell her mother. I also called her mother when she first asked and her mom said she would respect whatever our daughter wanted to do as far as where she stayed primarily. That was a lie...
My daughter says she has told her mother she wants to stay with her dad every week since then but they always either ignore it or get angry and tell her "When you turn 18 you can make that choice!" So for the last few months my daughter has asked me to take this to court. More specifically, she asked why I can't make them let her stay with me and I explained that it'd likely take lawyers, lots of money, and court, and she has repeatedly asked me to "Do the court thing".

I have always taken pride in being a good dad. My ex even stated in court during the divorce that I was a great father. My daughter is also my best friend, interested in (and talented in) the same things as me, such as various types of art, fantasy and science fiction, and we have the same type of general humor and behavior, greatly different from her mother who she was nearly as close with. She says that at her mom's, when she isn't locked in her room she is made to watch football or play in the back yard with her little brother as the babysitter so her mom and step-dad can play online games together for hours.

I definitely get why she wants to stay with me. I can see how this 50/50 week to week split isn't very stable for her life and upbringing. She loves spending time with me and her 2 younger sisters here at my place and gets very sad when it is time to go back to her mom's. I want to help her and she has pleaded with me about this for long enough that I feel it should be taken seriously. Can I do anything?

Big thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and try to help me with information.

Modification of Custody: My 13 Year Old Has Asked for Months to Stay Primarily with Me. Can I Do Anything

Theft and Larceny: Caught Shoplifiting New Jersey

My question involves criminal law for the state of: NJ Im from Jersey and I am 17 years old with a clean record. A few days ago I was caught at sephora with $284 worth of stuff, some of which I had taken for my friend who was there with me. I was approached by the LP after leaving the store and taken to the back room. He said they were not allowed to call the police at the time and that I had gotten a huge break. He did not say anything about being charged but after reading the jersey laws I know there is still a possibility that l can be charged. I got banned from sephora and the mall as well as given a civil service document. So cops were not called but I know i had committed a felony. My concern is, will I be summoned to court and how will I know? What charges can be put against me? How long does it take to be notified when I will be summoned or if i will be receiving a summoning in the mail. Again he did not say anything about charging me. I was also cooperative with the whole ordeal and kept my cool. I gave him everything, my phone, license, the products etc. Im just not sure what to expect in court and if I will even be summoned. I know they have a year to charge me.

Theft and Larceny: Caught Shoplifiting New Jersey

Minors' Rights: Caught Shoplifiting New Jersey

My question involves juvenile law in the State of:Im from Jersey and I am 17 years old with a clean record. A few days ago I was caught at sephora with $284 worth of stuff, some of which I had taken for my friend who was there with me. I was approached by the LP after leaving the store and taken to the back room. He said they were not allowed to call the police at the time and that I had gotten a huge break. He did not say anything about being charged but after reading the jersey laws I know there is still a possibility that l can be charged. I got banned from sephora and the mall as well as given a civil service document. So cops were not called but I know i had committed a felony. My concern is, will I be summoned to court and how will I know? What charges can be put against me? How long does it take to be notified when I will be summoned or if i will be receiving a summoning in the mail. Again he did not say anything about charging me. I was also cooperative with the whole ordeal and kept my cool. I gave him everything, my phone, license, the products etc. Im just not sure what to expect in court and if I will even be summoned. I know they have a year to charge me.

Minors' Rights: Caught Shoplifiting New Jersey

Expenses and Reimbursement: Making an Employee Pay for a Mandatory Business Trip Scheduled for After They Resign

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Texas

My wife's previous employer is a small business (10 employees or less) that organizes and runs large meetings and conferences for clients such as medical associations and corporations. They have less than 10 large clients that have been repeat customers for more than 10 years and their annual meetings are around the same time every year. My wife's previous employer always purchases employee plane tickets for the events 4-6 months in advance. This was her first job out of college and she got it to support our family as I finished school (I am a veteran and trying to finish school as quickly as possible). The company had such a high turnover of employees (5 people have held the position in the last 3 years) that AFTER my wife was hired, they made everyone sign an amendment to the employee handbook that stated if employees left the company, they would be financially responsible for plane tickets purchased in their name for future events, or whatever the ticket insurance did not cover. Afraid of losing the job we needed to be supported, she signed it.

She had been absolutely miserable in the job but stayed there for a year, it is a hostile work environment, until she found a better position at a prestigious private university. She put in her two weeks notice in the middle of October 2015. A week before her final day, they approached her and tried to pressure her into signing an additional promissory note stating again that she would accept financial responsibility for any future plane tickets. This was because they had already purchased a $1250.00 plane ticket to an mandatory event in Hawaii in her name, scheduled for March of 2016. (This was well over half of her net monthly income I might add). The company filed a claim with the travel insurance and told my wife that it would only be covered if she had been with the company for at least 3 years. She left without ever signing the additional promissory note and on her last day, her boss (The company owner) threatened to take her to court and that it was "her reputation on the line".

We feel that is is completely unfair to try and charge employees for the plane tickets to mandatory work related trips especially since there is maybe one month out of the entire year that they haven't already pre-purchased plane tickets. It is rigged so no one can leave without having to pay back hundreds or thousands of dollars. We also understand that fair or not, she signed the amendment. But the amendment makes no statement of repayment terms, interest or a pay by date. So out of spite, we offered to repay the ticket at $15 per month knowing full well that it is a ridiculous amount. They countered that they want $300 per month for four months or else they will take her to small claims court.

My questions are, do they have any legal ground to demand the repayment terms they want if it was not called for specifically in the employee handbook amendment that my wife signed? Is this situation even legal? It feels like complete entrapment to me, "you have to work here for at least three years or else you will have to pay back hundreds or thousands of dollars if you try to leave."

My wife was already struggling with anxiety and depression from the work environment and treatment she received (documented by many doctor/therapist visits), but she finally got out and found her dream job that she absolutely loves. She just wants to put that place behind her and now this former company is back and attacking her even after she is gone. I am tempted to go to small claims court and plead our case but I am worried about losing and having to repay the plane ticket plus court fees and THEIR legal expenses. Can anyone help me sort this out or give an opinion on what to do next?

Expenses and Reimbursement: Making an Employee Pay for a Mandatory Business Trip Scheduled for After They Resign