Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

Discovery rules tell prosecutors what information (and when) they must provide defendants -- through their lawyers -- prior to trial. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that the Virginia discovery rules remain too narrow.  In Virginia district court, the defense is only entitled to...

Maintain vigilance with prosecutors and police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the necessity of such an approach. When Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong were photographed heartily laughing with each other at their first meeting, they were at all times maintaining their calculation, cunning,...

Psychedelic drugs can provide important health benefits for a variety of psychological ailments. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that for years, LSD, psilocybin, magic mushrooms / shrooms and other psychedelics got lumped in with cocaine and heroin for criminalization and sentencing ranges,...

Abolishing the death penalty has long been critical for me. Abolition is a major human rights, social justice, and racial justice issue. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and longtime human rights activist, I bristled when eight years ago a fellow Virginia criminal defense lawyer called...

Open beer, wine and alcohol containers often are consumed while covered in paper bags to try to avoid police intervention. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Virginia law bars consuming alcohol while driving, and also possessing an alcoholic beverage in a public schoolyard.

Sea changes are happening that benefit criminal defendants with the new Virginia chief prosecutors in Fairfax County, Arlington and Loudoun As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I see numerous personnel changes at these Virginia commonwealth attorneys' offices; more flexibility with numerous case negotiations; and more opportunity...

Juvenile life without parole cannot be made mandatory by statute when the crime was committed under the age of eighteen. Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460 (2012); Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 718 (2016). As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that after...

DFS -- the Virginia Department of Forensic Science -- on January 24, 2020, announced (1) a new testing procedure to rule out industrial hemp and (2) no longer requiring a court order for the agency to test suspected marijuana. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I...

Subsequent drug prosecution is possible when a person is found with illegal drugs in place A, leading to a successful drug search of the person's home in place B. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the importance of avoiding more than one prosecution arising...

Marijuana field tests and DUI breathalyzer equipment should preclude allowing the field testing and breath testing results into evidence at trial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have in many DWI trials objected to breath testing results when the breath technician has mistakenly referred...