Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

Actual innocence reversals are not common in Virginia, but that does not mean that a criminal defendant should not consider that avenue. Today's blogpost is the second of a two-part article on this issue.

Beware pleading guilty, no contest/nolo contendere, or Alford. Doing so bypasses your Constitutional right to trial and hands the prosecutor a conviction. Consequently, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that before departing from a not guilty/innocent plea, a criminal defendant needs to have fully...

Prolonged police traffic stops too often fly in the face of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police try to use traffic stops as a pretext to investigate for such more serious and unrelated...

Commercial driver licenses ("CDL") issued in Virginia are at risk for a whole host of convictions for Virginia criminal charges and traffic infraction charges. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles website here provides an overview of these CDL risks from such driving convictions as DUI/driving...

Local news interviewed me on February 14, 2018, for its televised story aired the same date about the Virginia legislature-passed law permitting physicians to prescribe CBD and THC-A oils to patients. The local news segments with me begin here, shortly after minute 1:00. I blogged...

Virginia's presumption of no bail law gets no presumption of innocence offset, as confirmed this week by Virginia's Supreme Court. Virginia v. Duse, ___ Va. ___ (Feb. 12, 2018). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the harshness of Virginia (Va. Code § 19.2-120) and...

Virginia probation revocations -- as well as probation revocations in any other American jurisdiction -- are risked by new convictions for crimes committed during one's probation period. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the stiff probation revocation sentencing that can result from proof of...

Virginia marijuana law is woefully behind neighboring District of Columbia and Maryland, which both do not criminalize possession of personal amounts of marijuana (but D.C. still criminalizes smoking marijuana in public). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Virginia police overemphasize ferreting out marijuana...

Marijuana field testing is junk science. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I say so, because even a drug chemist's testimony is subject to reasonable inquiry and sometimes attack, even when the chemist is completely legitimate with his or her credentials and honesty.

DUI repeat charges should be avoided like the plague. Nonetheless, my urging people not to drive within 24 hours of consuming any alcohol either often falls on deaf ears or never reaches those ears in the first place, until it is too late.