Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

Virginia DUI sentencing enhancement risks can go beyond mandatory minimum sentencing for such factors as repeat DWI offenses, blood alcohol content of 0.15 or more, DUI with maiming and DUI with death. As a Fairfax DWI lawyer, I know that other factors can also aggravate...

Fairfax diversion is a pilot program called Taking Root, that was announced in April 2022 by county commonwealth's attorney Steve Descano, with this news release. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have looked for but not found many details about this program outside the foregoing...

Interlock orders at first blush may weigh heavily on defendants in Virginia DWI trials. As a Virginia DUI lawyer, I know that sometimes an ignition interlock device (IID) order results from a deal that converts a DUI count to wet reckless, or from the option...

Attestation clauses (AC's) need to be signed by breathalyzer machine operators to effectuate the Virginia law that gives prosecution-friendly meaning to such testing. Virginia Code §§ 18.2-268.9, 19.2-187, and 19.2-187.1. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I religiously check the certificate of analysis for whether the...

Arson investigations typically include firefighters and police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I repeatedly analyze how the Fourth Amendment applies not only to police, but also to all other relevant government personnel, including fire fighters and government-employed emergency medical technicians (EMT's) / paramedics. Amidst horrifying...

Fairfax former prosecutor Nathan Freier claims to have been overwhelmed and undertrained to prosecute the sex crime cases he was assigned to, as stated verbatim in his email to his chief, found near the bottom of this link. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer headquartered a...

Returning allegedly stolen property is not guaranteed to avoid a theft conviction. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that doing so can reduce the harm to a Virginia criminal defendant, but does not by itself negate the prosecutor's ability to prove the theft element...

FST (field sobriety testing) often get overly built up by police and prosecutors in Virginia DUI trials. In reality, prosecutions typically have holes to mine, enlarge and exploit in fighting for acquittal. Sometimes that yields acquittal, like with my recent DWI bench trial. In this...

Flight under Virginia criminal law sometimes can be akin to putting a target on one's behind that says "kick me".  As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the human tendency to flee being caught by police and falsely (or even not falsely charged) before at...

Conflicting prosecution witness testimony does not always amount to an acquittal for a Virginia criminal defendant. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that if such testimony is not irreconcilably, materially and diametrically opposed to each other, then the matter proceeds to a jury verdict...