Beware what happens when police find contraband in the automobile in which you are in the driver's or passenger's seat. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that too many Virginia police and prosecutors will pursue a prosecution of everyone in the car, leaving...
Resisting arrest law risks excessive police use for charging unruly criminal defendants, as do charges of disorderly conduct and felony assault on law enforcement. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have my eyes keenly attendant to that reality when defending each client charged with such...
Imitation drug ("ID") selling does not insulate a Virginia criminal defendant from a conviction. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that an ID is "(i) a counterfeit controlled substance" or (ii) a substance that is not a controlled substance but which by such factors...
Vital information needs to be obtained by a criminal defense lawyer to sufficiently defend his or her client. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer / Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that my clients are a very important source of that information, in addition to my obtaining...
Case outcomes for criminal defendants can improve overall when Fairfax prosecutors bow out of most misdemeanor matters. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I recently experienced such benefit. Although a prosecutor can be more reliable for producing discovery in conformity with Virginia Rule 7C:5 and Brady v....
Challenge police searches if the search leads to your being prosecuted. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that the Exclusionary Rule of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment will sometimes yield the suppression of the evidence seized by police. Aaron Emile McArthur is a recent beneficiary...
VA DWI law is not pretty even though acquittals can be achieved. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that 0.08 is a ridiculously low per se threshold for mandating a conviction. I also know that driving under the influence without a blood alcohol reading has a...
Coaching has perhaps become an overused phrase by those offering that category of professional services. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I view lawyer counseling not as Chris Farley's cracking us up as the man in the van down by the river. Instead, I know that...
Challenges abound with the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office's recently-announced shift to only prosecute a limited universe of misdemeanor cases. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that this change is a double-edged sword, both providing opportunities and hurdles to the defense. On the one...
Child sexual offense prosecutions involve particularly damning accusations. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that additionally the prosecution in its case in chief may attempt to inform the jury of the defendant's conviction of another sexual offense.. Va. Code § 18.2-67.7:1.; Va. S. Ct. R....
Lighthearted actions by criminal defense lawyers with police and prosecutors may seem like weakness to those untutored in persuasion. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I have witnessed time and again that doing the opposite from unnecessarily putting cops and prosecutors and anyone else in fight...
Contraband items can come in the form of illegal drugs, illegal weapons, and a whole host of other illegal items. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that defenses against such prosecutions sometimes includes challenging the proximity of the defendant to the suspect items in...
Killing convictions can be an extra challenge to obtain for prosecutors, because the victim is never available to testify in court. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I find this week's Warnick v. Virginia appellate opinion affirming a Northern Virginia murder conviction to be instructive for criminal defense...
Update information rolls in on Virginia criminal law changes with the usual July 1 effective date. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I address below the expanded felony Circuit Court discovery rules, attorney-issued records subpoenas, and prospects for even more criminal defendant-beneficial law changes with the...
Anonymous tips are often the bread and butter of police officers investigating crime, particularly alleged crimes involving illegal drugs, weapons, and assault running from simple battery to murder. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I often rolls my eyes at political reactionaries lambasting the United States...
Concealed carry and handgun rights are extensively protected in Virginia, which is one of the more Second Amendment-protecting states. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I here address those rights and limits, restoration of handgun rights, and recent newer limits on handguns. By law, Virginia...
Bar and restaurant closings and all other Covid-19 business reductions have crippled too many people’s lives and livelihoods, and the economy. As a Fairfax criminal and DUI lawyer, I know that Phase III of further societal reopening — coupled with July 4 Independence Day weekend...
Succeeding in a criminal trial can take place at several stages. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that those possible stages are moving to dismiss the prosecution for failure to articulate a cognizable crime, for a defect in the charging document, for failure to...
Keeping focus on victory helps make the naysayers, hecklers and vicious folks disappear from sight and sound. One day a rather new Fairfax, Virginia prosecutor motioned me into the courtroom antechamber while we awaited our DUI trial to be called, so I thought he was either...
Hecklers are not the judge nor jury. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that advocating for the accused is no popularity contest, but about saving the life, liberty, reputation, and livelihood of the client. As one of the faculty of the National Criminal...
