Kai Michael Henderson

I grew up in Iowa, Arizona, New Jersey, Colorado, and Nevada. I am fluent in French having lived briefly in Belgium and France. I attended the University of Arizona where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Juris Doctorate. In Law School, I interned at the Pinal County Public Defender’s Office. I ranked third on the comprehensive law examination of 344 Juris Doctors in my round. I have worked successfully in the Navajo County Public Defender’s Office, Pinal County Public Defender’s Office, and the Cochise County Public Defender’s Office. I also engaged in private practice doing a variety of legal work including estate, personal injury, criminal, and real estate litigation for three years.

University of Arizona

J.D. | Law

Honors: Ranked 3rd on Comprehensive Law Exam

State Bar of Arizona  # 030395

Member

Current

Q. What do you do when you are being falsely accused of child abuse for the third time? always dismissed before.

December 5, 2018

A: This is a very delicate topic and it is unclear in what context this is arising in. A.R.S. Sec. 13-403 provides in part: "Justification; use of physical force.

The use of physical force upon another person which would otherwise constitute an offense is justifiable and not criminal under any of the following circumstances:

1. A parent or guardian and a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor or incompetent person may use reasonable and appropriate physical force upon the minor or incompetent person when and to the extent reasonably necessary and appropriate to maintain discipline."

If the Son stands in loco parentis to the Grandchild, then he may have justification under the statute if he is being charged criminally. The issue could also come up in a Dependency or Family Law context. In a Dependency context you will need to consult with an attorney to find out the best course of action. If it arises in a child custody dispute, then having the ex-daughter-in-law living in the same house might not be working out and another arrangement might prevent more serious charges from coming up in the future. To preserve the domestic situation you might also encourage the ex-daughter-in-law to seek professional help for her mental illness from a health care provider. It is not unusual for individuals to attempt to use false or weak child abuse charges to gain leverage in a custody dispute, especially when their mental condition may make them reckless towards the consequences of such allegations. Child abuse is serious in Arizona and is often governed under A.R.S. Sec. 13-3623 which provides for a variety of circumstances where a felony is alleged. You may wish to have a more thorough discussion of this issue with an attorney. ... Read More

Q. If my babys father was caught with a meth pipe and weed on him and i was charged for DV is CPS going to be invovled??

December 5, 2018

A: This is a difficult issue.

The removal of a child in Arizona is governed under A.R.S. Sec. 8-822 which gives the Department the onus of making rules of when a child is removed from the home. CPS may become involved at some point, but might not. If it is a misdemeanor DV charge, then your ability to physically be around for the child will not be impaired. Having both parents in jail creates a precarious situation for parental rights. The Father will likely have to go to Court and will have to wait to see what his sentence is. If he has a lot of prior felonies he may have a higher likelihood of ending up in prison.

The grounds for permanently removing a child are found under A.R.S. Sec. 8-533. A person in that position is generally are a long way from that outcome at this time, but addiction or violence could continue to pave that road. DCS will often do what is known as an "in-home dependency" if they suspect abuse or neglect. Sometimes when drugs are found within reach of a child, or a child witnesses the domestic abuse, DCS will take some actions to monitor the situation or take temporary custody of the children. Oftentimes they do nothing. If drug addiction is suspected, they will often have parents engage in counseling and other services to help them overcome those challenges. Mandatory drug testing is often part of this, so parents who cannot kick the habit after several months (depending on the age of the child) and continue to have dirty drug tests multiple times often lose their kids.

Many parents in this situation are better off when they have a contingency plan in place. If there is a trusted relative who can help take care of the children and find a safe place for the children while a parent sobers up, obtains psychological treatment, or works on other aspects of improving themselves, like working, this can avoid or limit the involvement of DCS. If a parent cannot overcome their addiction or is facing a long felony prison sentence, they might think about guardianships or other mechanisms to make sure that their children go to the relative they prefer. DCS tries for reunification of the parent and child and if that is not possible they generally try for a kinship or close family friend placement.

This post is meant as general advice only. This advice is not to be viewed as specific advice for the questioner. All readers should be advised to consult with an attorney to clarify or expand on the answer. ... Read More

Q. Can an employer tell me my cancer is considered a disability and add me to the "list" to make the numbers look good?

November 20, 2018

A: There are a tangle of issues here and it is never good to have one's privacy violated, especially by a co-worker. On the facts here, it appears that your company internally disclosed that you have a disability. Generally speaking, under the ADA, employers cannot disclose employees' health information to third parties without meeting some of the exceptions such as providing reasonable accommodation or reporting a Worker's Compensation injury. Under the facts above, it does not appear that there was much in the way of accommodation was required, so it is unknown whether this would hold water. It is also not clear that there was third party disclosure.

A person needs to tread carefully with employee/employer relations. While this incident may be evidence of a pattern of hostility in the workplace, it may just be a misunderstanding, or more likely based on just the above an unintentional violation of privacy meant to make the company look like it is more diverse with regards to disability than it actually is. That being said, cancer may fit under the broad categorization of disability under the ADA. If a person is fired for missing a week of work due to their cancer treatment, it is likely that that person would have a claim under the ADA, so it is arguable that it does count as a disability. This despite the fact that only personal or sick time may have been used, thus no accommodation was really necessary. It would depend on the context of the "list" that the employer compiled.

The problems raised are a boss distributing information that she should not even have had, classifying the worker as disabled, and attempting to leverage the alleged disability for public relations. A person may want to speak with a skilled attorney or put out a few job applications for other work if the alleged behavior keeps gnawing at them or no one apologizes and remedies after being confronted. Be careful in jumping ship though or having a tough argument, a lot of people who think they are going to get a million dollar payout often end up with crumbs or nothing when a jury assesses how much an injury is worth, if a case even gets to a jury. They also may have trouble finding a job that was as good as their last one because of the natural storms and currents of the labor market. Some people end up looking for a new job with better management and jump ship into a better job, but they are safest when they have it before they quit the offending job. A good attorney can take a look with a wider lens at a situation like this.

This Answer is posted for general informational purposes only. It is not designed as legal advice to the questioner. Any instances of the word “you” are meant in the third person. All individuals are counseled to seek the advice of an Attorney before basing any action on any information posted herein. ... Read More