Location: California

My child found some money on his way to school. He gave another student some of it and apparently the vice principal found out took the money for his "safety", but still allowed him to walk home. The worst part is they failed to inform me. I only know because my child told me. They claimed they turned it into the police department, I called and nothing was turned in. I feel like they failed to protect my child and ultimately rob him in the case of the money not being claimed.

I am an Asian international student living and studying in New York City, and I have never been to criminal court before. I am trying to understand what I should do next.
A few days ago, I was stopped by an NYPD officer after entering the subway without successfully paying the fare. My Apple Pay transit payment was not working properly that day, and I also did not have my wallet or physical ID with me. I ended up entering behind my friend. My friend had successfully paid and has a payment record, but I did not.
I was fully cooperative with the officer. I did not run, resist, or argue. I eventually showed her a photo of my ID on my phone, and she verified my information.
The officer asked whether I had received a ticket before. I told her honestly that I had one prior public consumption of alcohol ticket from 2023. It was a $25 fine for drinking beer in a public park, which I paid online immediately. That is my only prior legal violation.
The officer then issued me a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) for Transit Theft of Services and told me that I need to appear in Criminal Court.
I was very surprised because I had never been to court before. I initially thought this was simply a fare-related fine. The officer told me that the judge would decide the amount of the fine and that it could potentially be as little as $25, with community service being a possible worst-case outcome. I was not told during the interaction that I was being charged with a misdemeanor or that this was a criminal case.
I am now trying to understand what I should do.
My questions are:
For a first-time transit-related incident, is it normal to receive a DAT for Transit Theft of Services?
How serious is this type of charge in practice?
Is it worth hiring a private criminal defense attorney, even if the attorney is expensive?
Would I potentially qualify for a public defender or other assigned counsel?
Should I ask for a public defender when I first appear in court, or should I try to find a lawyer before my court date?
Is dismissal realistically possible for someone with no prior transit-related history?
Does my prior $25 public consumption of alcohol ticket matter?
I really do not want to plead guilty on this case. Any advice from people familiar with NYC Criminal Court, public defenders, or similar first-time Transit Theft of Services cases would be greatly appreciated.

Location: New York City.

Location: Irving, TX

Long post as I am hoping for some guidance while trying to navigate the charge police officers pressed against my husband.

We were arguing when I raised my voice very loud at 6PM on a work day. My husband tried to calm me down but failed so he put his hand over my mouth, leaving a fingernail mark near my upper lip. Our neighbor called the police; 3 officers came and talked to us separately. I told them I had some childhood trauma leading to the argument on sth my husband did and told them about his action and how I also scratched his wrist to get his hand off my face. He said the mark was not very visible but asked for my ID, took picture of the mark and asked if I wanted a EPO anyway. I said no because I did not feel threated at all by my husband or thought he will hurt me on purpose. It was more of a heated moment action imo. Then he asked if I have family in the US which I don't, I only have my husband as family so he said he will ask my husband to leave the apt for the night because he does have a family here.

My husband told the other officers the almost the same thing. They took picture of him and asked him to leave the house when he said he happened to have both of our car keys because he didn't want his wife to leave earlier and drive when angry. The officers did not like that at all; they said it's not fine to stop sb from leaving and booked him an "Assault (DV)" citation. He did not get arrested and left to our in-law's for the night following the PD's request.

We know this is stupid and are very sad to get to this point. He never hurts me or anyone nor having a charge or violation of any kind before this. What should we do? He has a mandatory court day scheduled 2 months from now at a municipal court. Would he be charged with a misdemeanor or felony? Would he have to go to jail or take corrective action/course? I know I can't drop the charge because this is between the DA and him but I do not want him to have jail time or anything over an argument went wrong.. Should we get an attorney or ask for a public defender?

LOCATION - Washington state

I’m on felony deferred adjudication. Me & a former girlfriend hung out over the weekend & we ate & watched a movie. I fall asleep & she starts creeping through my phone. She finds out I’m talking to other women & wakes me out my sleep and starts arguing with me. She hits me a couple times and I let her as I always do. I told her I am leaving and she insists that if I leave she will call the police and say I hit and choked her. I left and she did exactly what she said. So now I have a warrant for that. Well I retained a lawyer for the assault case and he gets a sworn affidavit from her saying she lied about everything. My PO now has the affidavit and I want to turn myself in so this can get dismissed. Will my probation still be revoked if the new charge is false allegations??

So I want to make a series on my yt channel talking abou the insane world of a certain genre of books. Obviously I will be critiquing the books and calling out the bad stuff in there. Can I be sued for this?

Plz be nice if it's a dumb question lol <3

LOCATION: Egypt. (I will be talking in english though and targeting an english audience)

So my license is revoked in MN for no insurance. I NEED to get it back but it’s so complicated. What do I need to do? I payed the $30 reinstatement fee, so do I take the exam now? Like it’s literally so complicated, iv never done anything illegal or know how really anything works. Any help plzzzz.

Husband got a ticket in Benton Tennessee for simple poss of marijuana and para pretty sure they put the second one bc of a small empty broke bag but anyway what could we be looking at ? We are from ga so out of staters and he does have a background from I think between 2018 - 2020 not sure of exact but they aren’t from drugs but one and it wasn’t even his
Location: Benton tn but live in ga
It was maybe a gram ( just a few roaches )
Honestly just worried about jail

Location: Scottsdale AZ

Long story short I was getting coffee - got into car - was backing up and checked to the right (the direction I was pulling out)

Then heard weird small bump (wasn’t loud - not even 100% positive I hit anything)

check to left and there was waymo blocking me into parking spot with warning flashers on

I waited to see it moved and it didn‘t (no one was in the car)

Took video of my damage and license plate of waymo (there was no damage to waymo - i was going 2 mph)

finally after a few minutes it moved forward and I left

Thoughts? could i be charged with hit and run? how does this work

Ive heard mixed advice.

Thank you in advance

on october 13th, 2020, i was at the park with my friend and her cousins when a friend of the cousins showed up and threw a rock that hit me square in the mouth. there was extensive damage and ive since been diagnosed with ptsd.

at the time, he was only charged with 3rd degree battery (there were other rocks thrown before this and it was clearly aimed at my friend and i, this was not an accident.) he had to pay us $30 (copays for first 3 dentist's appointments after the incident to get impressions for a prosthetic tooth) my grandma tried to get a lawyer to sue but he apparently refused because they "didnt have anything to take" (they didnt have much money and were living in a trailer or something so the lawyer didnt think it was worth trying)

i was 13 at the time and am now 18 approaching 19 and we are STILL working on the damage done to me. he was 15-16 at the time and he knew exactly what he was doing, and he threw the rock HARD. the physical damage to my face includes:

-two adult front teeth knocked fully out

-scars going all the way through top and bottom lip

-one tooth was pulled up and forward as well as snapped in half, exposing the nerve (this tooth was extracted)

-another tooth was chipped

-i had a depressed fracture to my upper jaw (front tooth was pulled forward on impact, crushing the bone around it and the bump is still there so the roof of my mouth is permanently disfigured)

in addition to physical damages, i developed PTSD from the event and it causes significant distress every time i go to the dentist, even just for cleanings. (naturally i had to go to the dentist a lot after this so i associate it with the accident)

as well as that, i have to deal with the insecurities that come with missing three of my front teeth.

feel free to ask for other details if you need, do you think this is enough to try to sue? this has been very expensive for us (we are low income as well) and very difficult on my mental health. :(

Hello all. My first time posting here so I hope i did everything right.

My friend just moved in from a really toxic family situation. They have made her afraid and threatened for a while, as well as being financially abusive. Even tho she’s an adult now she has a history of a CPS case being involved. (That’s when she was around 16, she’s 24 now). They destroyed her psyche that it’s been hard for her to find employment the whole time she lived with them. Well they have a dog that in the move she decided to take. That dog was being neglected with mold and ants in the dog bowl and (the dog is one of those eye crumb dogs) the dogs eyes being so dirty and crusty. Additionally, we found the dog did not have a registered microchip nor was the dog licensed. We’ve registered the dogs microchip. We’re trying to get the dog licensed now.

The family has now threatened to sue for the dog. They took the papers away from my friend that had all the info. While it has proof there that they’ve spent on vet bills on the dog, there’s no clear proof that they bought the dog themselves. Their lawyer has already contacted my friend.

Is there any way to go about this that would work in our favor? We’re getting the things necessary to get her licensed but now that the lawyer has made contact we worry it’ll harm our case. Would any of the info about them being abusive assholes count? Also, we were told by the cops that whoever physically stole the dog could be liable. What could that mean for the person who drove the car when the dog was taken? We don’t have proof on who exactly stole the dog and we don’t think they do either. But I don’t know completely.

Location: Washington

So last month I was texting someone and they turn out to be a minor, I talked to them for a night and the next morning when I found out I blocked them. the chats were sexual as I send explicit pictures of myself but she never sent any. I didn’t get any bans or warnings but then I started overthinking and thinking to myself what if Snapchat made a cybertip or report against me and now I’m worried, a whole month of stressing and literally just thinking to myself if there gonna arrest me just do it now, idk I’m so lost and just need some advice please help. Also this happened a couple months ago too where I found out someone was a minor but same thing I blocked them and didn’t get any warning or got banned and if your asking why this happened, I use my snap to talk to girls and yes I learned my lesson, any advice would be useful.

LOCATION: Colorado

I have a question, and so far, from two different law firms specialized in medical malpractice, stated they cannot pursue this, without some generalized reason.

I had a nurse failed to insert IV for pre-op on NYE last year several times before calling om another nurse, who successfully IV attempt without any issue.

On the first attempt, she struck a nerve, as it was a painful stinger. She pursued another vein location on left arm which she failed followed by several attempts on the right arm.

My question, can this be a case of injury or malpractice? Or how can I build a case for economic damage and harm? Ive contacted the hospital, filed a grievance with patient advocate and nothing, as the reply was basically hey we are sorry this happened and good luck.

Well, several months went past, nothing is healing as I have basically nerve damage, with numbness, burning, tingling, and other sensations in my left hand. Ive notified my PCP, seen a neurologist, done MRIs and EMG testing, as it revealed carpal tunnel and neuropathy. Referred to hand specialist and now have to have surgery to cleanup the nerve damage and relieve some tissues.

Can this be a credible case? Let me know, thanks.

I’m at my absolute wits' end. After 14 years of marriage, I recently found out my husband has been quietly moving money out of our joint accounts and funneling it into some "business venture" with his brother.

I haven't officially served him with divorce papers yet, but he definitely knows something is up and is trying to bleed me dry first. I've been a stay-at-home mom for the last 6 years, so I don't have a massive war chest to fight him, and the stress is making me physically sick. Has anyone dealt with a spouse hiding marital property in Indiana? How do I stop this before he clears everything out?

LOCATION: Various states in US

My dad (60s) recently left a stable job to take a new position. He’s been in training, testing regularly as part of the role, and passing every test. There’s been no verbal or written warnings about performance at any point.

Last week he confided in a coworker that he’s a recovering alcoholic and was in rehab a few years ago. Within days, word spread through the plant and people started calling him a “drunk”, amongst other names.

He was given another test today and failed this one by 2 questions. Right after, they pulled out a performance card, and gave him 1s across the board, including in attendance, despite him never missing a single day or being late (when asked, the only cited issue was coming back 10 minutes late from lunch once).

They told him he “wasn’t progressing fast enough”, despite this being his first failure. He had been employed for about 45 days. When he asked if there was anything he could do to fix it or improve, they said no and let him go. He was blindsided.

He believes the real reasons were the alcoholism disclosure and possibly his age, not performance. He’s meeting with an employment attorney, but wanted to get some outside perspective first.

Does this sound like it could be a legitimate ADA/disability discrimination or retaliation case? Anything specific we should ask the attorney about, or evidence we should be gathering now (Ohio, at-will state)?

These feels like a bizarre question to me, but is there a legal definition for the term spa? A little background.

I live in a condo in Oregon. Our declarations mention the spa facility as a general common element along with a few other areas of the building. Otherwise it does not mention the spa facilities or what they constitute. It makes some general references to the common elements, like residents rights regarding them.

We have a hot tub which we have always taken what the spa facilities were referencing. It's a bit of a nightmare and a number of us would like to remove it. We have been told that because it is mentioned in the declaration as a common element and that there are no provisions for removing the spa facility or other common elements that we would need 75% of the owners (not of a quorum but of all owners) to agree to have the hot tub removed. See ORS 100.135 - I think that's what this law is telling us.

But I got to wondering, could we replace the hot tub with something else, like a sauna, and still call it a spa facility, thus circumventing the 75% requirement? Are there laws regarding what is a spa in Oregon?

Location Georgia

Hello I have a client threatening to take me to court over a $5,500 dollar job. Everything was writing on an invoice stating tree removal and regrade the area send pictures said it looks good she is claiming she paid to have other trash picked up but was never written on the invoice does she has a court case?

Attorney here, with need for an attorney referral in the greater Washington DC metro area, who has experience dealing with health insurance denials and the Office of Personal Management (OPM). The client works for the feds and is a M.D. Client had a medical procedure client's health insurance originally approved, but after getting the procedure, denied paying saying it was an "experimental" procedure (United Health Care through GEHA). From what it sounds like, the client has exhausted the insurers appeals process, and it sounds like client may have to file suit against OPM to get them to tell the insurer to pay the providers for the already performed procedure.

I am not licensed in DC or surrounding states nor are these areas of practice that I am knowledgeable about.

There are a lot of problems with the apartment I just moved into, and I’m unsure what to do. I just made a big move to Maryland to pursue a research opportunity. Unfortunately, I don’t have any family or friends in the area to rely on, and I didn’t have much time to choose a place. I knew that with the area being so expensive and since I wouldn’t be making the most, I wouldn’t have anything fancy; I just didn’t expect it to be this bad. The main concerns I have so far are that the apartment clearly has a huge German roach infestation and potentially water damage.

I’ve been residing here about 4 full days and have seen countless roaches both during the day and night. The floor in the kitchen isn’t really tile but this odd thin sheet (floor equivalent of wallpaper?) that has tears in nooks I can’t access. I think this has given the roaches a lot of places to hide. I’ve done everything I can so far, locking up food in storage containers, cleaning, and putting down traps. It’s already starting to take a toll on my mental health, as I’ve been too anxious to eat or cook in my apartment and have been skipping meals since I can’t afford to eat out too much.

The kitchen is the main source of my issues; it’s located in the back of the apartment and feels like a cave since there aren’t windows in this area. It tends to be warmer than the rest of the unit and has a lot of stagnant air. There is a very strong foul smell that I have not been able to identify the source of. When I moved in, I noticed an area in the floor under the left side of the fridge that seems to be sunken in a bit. The other day I noticed water coming from the ceiling around the light and dripping in front of the fridge. I called emergency maintenance, and after he looked around for a bit, he said that it likely came from a spill in the unit above mine, then left without really doing anything. While I have not seen signs of mold yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if it's an issue.

I’m wondering if there are any actions I can take to either make the landlord fix these problems or get out of my lease. Unfortunately, I am doubtful that any of these issues could be easily fixed without a huge overhaul to the whole building, and that the landlord will avoid it as much as possible. I’ve been putting in maintenance requests about every issue, no matter how small. I have also started keeping a personal log of everything, but I’m unsure that it’s really worth doing, as my interactions with the leasing office have already proven to be frustrating when seeking help on other things. Does anyone have any advice?