Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

It is St. Patrick’s Day evening, and a police officer testifies at my client’s bench DWI trial that he stopped my military-enlisted client for blowing a traffic light that was solid red for my client at all times, with the officer driving a few car lengths behind...

When police claim the accused possessed contraband, a key path of attack is to seek to suppress evidence of the seizure and search that turned up the alleged contraband. Praised be Virginia’s intermediate appellate court for recently overturning a contraband-bearing car inventory search, because: “[W]e...

Because I have referred hundreds of clients to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings since 1991, I meant long ago to attend an AA meeting to see what my clients have to put up with, how much help AA might actually be, and what non-Christians, agnostics and atheists...

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court unanimously reversed a federal controlled substance analogue conviction, because the trial judge watered down the necessary jury instruction for obtaining such a conviction, in this instance involving so-called ‘bath salts’. Far from a liberal for criminal defendants nor foranyone...

The United States Supreme Court substantially limits free expression rights when it comes to child pornography, out of consideration of the harm that child pornography can and does cause. Thankfully, the Supreme Court is cautious against creating new categories of expression that receive reduced First...

My interview starts at minute 4:00. On June 4, Voice of America television included me on a half-hour live French-speaking panel interview about the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) scandal (see the lengthy official criminal charges). The program was broadcast to countries including French-speaking...

Compassion and empathy are critical to winning in trial battle and to living a good life. However, a criminal defense lawyer has no business walking into the courtroom if s/he will let compassion, empathy, or anything else other than sound strategy make the lawyer hesitate...

Recently as we were headed to our respective courtrooms, a fellow criminal defense lawyer sarcastically remarked that we had entered the hallowed halls of justice. I replied: “More like guerrilla warfare with too many judges not being neutral referees”, that is, too many judges at...

Police and prosecutors routinely have a knee-jerk claim that a few ounces of marijuana coupled with a few thousand dollars amounts to intent to distribute the marijuana. Let us say that police lawfully stop a suspect’s car, lawfully find two ounces of marijuana and a...

One day during my year working for New York City’s Irving Trust commercial bank before starting law school, I walked into Tiffany’s in Manhattan on a Saturday to buy a friend a wedding gift, figuring I’d get a crystal bowl or some other doo-dad under one hundred dollars,...