Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

On July 14, 2011, I blogged about Norfolk federal trial Judge Raymond A.] Jackson’s reversal of Justin Michael Wolfe’s capital conviction, primarily due to his finding of serious failures of the prosecution to disclose exculpatory/Brady evidence. It is ironic that a case opinion as important as this...

Six weeks after my birth, the United States Supreme Court issued the landmark opinion of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), requiring prosecutors to disclose material exculpatory evidence upon the request of the defense: “We now hold that the suppression by the prosecution of...

A criminal defendant’s right to remain silent does not go out the door through a conviction following a guilty plea or trial. Mitchell v. U.S., 526 U.S. 314, 119 S.Ct. 1307 (1999). Mitchell is black letter law, despite the firm dissent of four justices therefrom....

A critical part of persuasion is storytelling, including bringing the jury within the circle of the story. Of course, storytelling alone may not be persuasive enough, because trials ordinarily involve various versions of the truth and challenges to the credibility and reliability of various opposing witnesses...

Many of my clients breathe a sigh of relief when they learn that a prosecutor has offered a plea deal that is likely to result in much less incarceration time than through a trial loss, when they believe that the risks of a trial loss...

Trial lawyers: Beware when your opponent cuts you off — aside from merely making a non-speaking objection — when you are explaining an objection or other legal argument during a trial or motions hearing. When judges have a busy docket or long day ahead of...

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). Thirty-five years after I started studying and practicing French, I find Spanish much more beneficial to my professional practice. To be sure, speaking any two languages is much better than speaking just one, and I soaked...

The presumption of innocence, and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases, must seem to be a very foreign concept to countless criminal jurors. Hopefully Twelve Angry Men (not this 12 Angry Men) will convince more people of these critical principles of criminal justice....

Thanks to the Esquire magazine staffer who recently sent me the May 2011 issue that briefly covers the magazine’s interview with me about why writers’ and others’ confessions about crimes involving drugs and other activities do not automatically translate into prosecutions and convictions. I answered...