Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

Virginia has not joined the jurisdictions that require providing criminal defendants a prosecution witness's written statements and substance of oral statements after the witness testifies for the prosecution. This rule is known as the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500. All federal prosecutions are governed...

When fully prepared for the day's curveballs, merely annoying or otherwise offensive words are more likely to roll off my back like water off a duck's back. High vibration and high energy diminishes low energy, at least in perception, and such perception is critical. When...

Police have awesome power. Power conferred will lead to power abused. Having police misconduct so ingrained in so many police from generation to generation, that old habits will die hard, and the right systemic changes will not come about right away, particularly when the systemic changes...

Too many people feel a false sense of anonymity on the Internet. However, each Internet address is connected to a unique Internet Protocol address that is clearly visible to a website owner when the IP address visits the website. Law enforcement easily can track down...

It may be easier for a committed criminal defense lawyer to put his or her all into the clients' case than convincing a judge, jury or prosecutor to do the same, and from the defendant's perspective. However, it is vital for the criminal defense lawyer...

The cops, prosecutors, and judges are not criminal defendants' friends. They have their own agendas that are not parallel to the defendants' goals and agendas. That means that all criminal defendants need to obtain a qualified lawyer early on .

The lawyers ethics rules and governing law generally prohibit lawyers, including prosecutors, from advising or encouraging non-party witnesses from talking with opposing lawyers. Just in case anyone was going to call me paranoid about my view that too many prosecutors and police do just that,...

The court system belongs to all of us and is here to serve us all. It is not some sort of secret society with secret handshakes and incantations.

We repeatedly face tense crossroads situations where we know that diffusing the situation is the right choice, but sometimes give into our temptations to escalate the tension. Diffusing the situation, or at least softening our own tension for starters, clearly is the most persuasive way...

People don't decide in fragments. They decide in the full context of stories and feelings -- often with their entire beings -- and how that fits in with their life experiences. Therefore, storytelling is critical in the persuasion process.