Penalty setting is an awesome power of jurors who convict criminal defendants in Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know the awesome power that juries have not only in terms of determining guilt or innocence, but also with recommending sentences....
Reefer decriminalization finally has passed the Democratic-controlled Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, most likely to be signed by the commonwealth's Democratic governor after the two chambers' bill versions are harmonized. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and drug defense attorney, I applaud this progress with...
Bench pushback is here in Northern Virginia, where judges will not automatically rubber stamp mutually agreed requests to dismiss criminal charges nor mutually agreed sentences and suspended imposition of sentence terms and conditions. Some judges will even ponder from the bench about whether certain prosecutorial...
Prosecution continues fully in Northern Virginia after vocal reformer chief prosecutors took office in Fairfax County, Arlington and Loudoun. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I correctly expected that the new chief prosecutors would be no worse for criminal defendants than their immediate predecessors, and...
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...
Lobbying to add, stop and change legislation can be a challenging, painstaking and lengthy experience. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, today I witnessed receptiveness to criminal justice reform by Virginia legislators -- at least Democrats --when I today joined around one hundred other...
Evening and even reversing the playing field to the criminal defendant's advantage is critical. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I repeatedly see the difference that can be spelled between having a qualified criminal defense lawyer and no lawyer at all in court. The people disparaging...
Collisions can result from drunk driving. As a Virginia DUI lawyer, I know that many trial judges in my home county of Fairfax and beyond in the commonwealth will sentence DWI more harshly when believing that the convicted DUI is causally connected to any collision...
Legislative reform beneficial to criminal defendants is more in reach than ever in Virginia now that Democrats control both of the commonwealth's House and Senate for the first time in decades. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that Democrats are not automatically better...
Self representation in criminal court gets pursued running the gamut from thoughtful political activists not wanting to water down their message with the presence of criminal defense lawyers, to those who have fools for a client, to those who have little foresight -- and sometimes...
Life in prison is the mandatory sentence that will come to any adult convicted in Virginia for object sexual penetration against someone under thirteen. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that a large percentage of adults not only are sexually attracted to children, but...
