Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

This week, Virginia’s intermediate appellate court detailed the totality of circumstances to consider in determining whether probable cause exists to arrest and search for drugs, after witnessing a hand-to-hand transaction. Powell v. Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (Nov. 3, 2010). The court’s reasons for finding probable cause to search Powell are...

Then-police detective Stephanie Lazarus sticks a billion feet in her mouth. Jon Katz urges suspects to assert their rights to remain silent and to refuse searches. On my blog, on the podium, and person-to-person, I do my best to spread the word for people to...

Image from the Government Printing Office’s website. As long as people must fill out applications for handgun purchase background checks, people with applicable convictions and applicable pending criminal charges will insert incorrect information, be prosecuted, and, with at least some, convicted. Enter Russell Smith, who had...

Today the Fourth Circuit affirmed a conviction for child pornography and attempted enticement of a minor. In doing so, the court found no Miranda violation, determining that the defendant was not in custody and was free to leave his home, even though police were circling...

Tomorrow, November 19, at 2:00 p.m., I will be on a lawyers’ panel at the Baltimore Immigration Summit, discussing identifying, handling, minimizing, and neutralizing immigration minefields from criminal cases and convictions. Many of my criminal defense clients are not United States citizens, which requires me to be...

Second Amendment or no Second Amendment, count on the Supreme Court to continue permitting legislation allowing stiff mandatory minimum sentences for possessing guns in relation to enumerated felonies. Yesterday, the Court unanimously held that the highest gun mandatory minimum specified for a Defendant’s conduct in 18...

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer advocating in Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible results for his clients. https://katzjustice.com   This past Friday, Dr. Joy Browne interviewed me on her talk radio show on  WOR 710-AM (710wor.iheart.com) about Amazon pedophile book-gate....

Image from public domain. When police seem to catch a suspect red-handed with drugs, is all automatically lost? No. Defenses still can include contesting the stop and search that leads to the discovery of the alleged drugs; challenging whether the seized item(s) is actually a...

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer advocating in Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible results for his clients. https://katzjustice.com I will be on NYC’s WOR 710-AM’s (710wor.iheart.com) Dr. Joy Browne Show around 2:20-2:40 p.m. today about the law applying...

When I am in a room of trial judges presenting a seminar, I sometimes urge them to expand the opportunity for lawyer-directed voir dire jury questioning/selection rather than letting judges do it. In Virginia, the law permits lawyer-directed voir dire, whereas custom permits it in...