Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

Many make much fanfare about the United States criminal justice system’s right for criminal defendants to remain silent, to have a trial, to be presumed innocent unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and the right to counsel. However, the courts where I...

Virginia has a statute allowing marijuana field testing testimony into evidence: “In any trial for a violation of § 18.2-250.1, any law-enforcement officer shall be permitted to testify as to the results of any marijuana field test approved as accurate and reliable by the Department...

On a recent criminal defense lawyers’ listserv thread, a colleague recommended James Shellow’s Cross Examination of the Analyst in Drug Prosecutions (Lexis-Nexis). My colleague who posted on Shellow’s above-listed treatise points out that he was a chemist before going to law school. Interestingly, Justice Scalia references Shellow, as...

Recently, Virginia’s Court of Appeals confirmed that so-called "swear words" are insufficient by themselves to convict for obscene or profane language. In Lofgren v. Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (Nov. 3, 2009), the Court reversed Lofgren’s conviction for a phone call in which he let loose...

Following are some particularly important recent Virginia Supreme Court opinions: Logan v. Virginia, ___ Va. ___ (Jan. 15, 2010): The “exclusionary rule is not applicable in probation revocation proceedings absent a showing of bad faith on the part of the police.” Jones v. Virginia, ___...

Thanks to a fellow listserv member for posting the following links for tracking criminal law legislation being proposed during the current Virgnia legislative session: Criminal law – substantive:https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sbj+018 Criminal law -procedure:https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sbj+019 Juvenile:https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sbj+099 Circuit Court – procedure:https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sbj+017 District Courts – procedure:https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sbj+016

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). The phone and emails are constantly ringing from clients, witnesses, courts, opposing lawyers, potential clients, and the list goes on. No sooner does one court date finish than the next court date begins. Snail mail is relentless....

Many judges focus on remorse, and the lack thereof, in sentencing. If a defendant has been wrongfully convicted, however, how may s/he show remorse? In Maryland, at least, judges may consider remorse in deciding whether the defendant is a good candidate for rehabilitation. Jennings v....

A friend told me he once saw Sting on a London street in the mid-1980’s. Word traveled rapidly that he was there, and Sting slipped deftly away before he got mobbed. I, on the other hand, saw Roger Daltrey in a Vancouver hotel lobby in 2001,...