Minnesota laws?

I heard from a friend of mine that if I was involved in a fight I could be charged as an adult because I've been trained to fight. I'm 16. Is there any truth to this?

As far as I know the decision to charge you as an adult will factor in many different things. The fact that you train Martial Arts and are presumed to be capable and knowledgable of violence is only one factor. A more significant factor would be the results of the altercation. Was the other guy seriously injured by you? Can that injury be attributed to your training? What was your intent during the altercation?

As a general rule, courts will hold a trained person to a higher standard of conduct that the average untrained person when it comes to instigating or voluntarily participating in avoidable fights. That only makes sense. If Joe Blow who trains in Jiu Jitsu, gets drunk and assaults someone, seriously injuring them with a technique, I think they should be held accountable.

We just recently had an incident like this happen locally where a drunk MA student attacked a restaurant employee and choked him unconscious before tossing him on his head. As a JJ instructor that crap really pisses me off.