criminal-law new-york-state
Weather my comments committed coercion in the second degree in NY?
<p>I disputed with my roommate regarding the noise issue. During a dispute, I said "If you keep making noise in the future, I will 1. contact the leasing office for feasible solutions 2. report this case to your professor(advisor) 3. cut off the in-room Internet". He said it was illegal verbal threat and wanted to sue me. May I ask if what I said regarded as an illegal verbal threat? Does "2.report this case to your professor/advisor" commits coercion in the second degree in NY? We are in NYC.</p>

<p>Probably not.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="http://criminaldefense.1800nynylaw.com/new-york-penal-law-135-60-coercion-in-the-second-degree.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a>, you need to threaten someone so they will do something they are legally entitled to refuse to do or to refrain from doing something they are legally entitled to do. It may be that your roommate is <em>not</em> legally entitled to make the noise you are disputing about.</p>
<p>Secondly, for your purposes, the relevant threats must fall within the scope of:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="4">
<li><p>Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him or her; or</p>
</li>
<li><p>Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or ...</p>
</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>Its certainly not clear to me that you have done either of those things and <em>even if you had</em> it is not clear that they are a threat. These are things you are entitled to do in the context of resolving the dispute and pointing out to the other disputant where you are thinking of going if the dispute is not resolved between you is not a threat.</p>
