Warrants to obtain blood for alcohol testing from DWI suspects was the default Fourth Amendment rule -- absent the driver's consent -- until June 27, 2019, when the United States Supreme Court decided 5-4 that exigent circumstances exist for a warrantless blood draw whenever a...
Multiple theft convictions convictions can prove a bigger headache for criminal defendants than one larceny conviction. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know the scarlet letter represented by even one theft conviction and the need to fully fight such prosecutions....
Jury selection and voir dire in Virginia are arts in themselves, where criminal defense lawyers and all other lawyers have a chance directly to ask questions of and persuade potential jurors. As a Fairfax County, Virginia, criminal defense lawyer, I know the value of having...
Talking with police is not required, but a slew of criminal suspects run their mouths with cops, often to their detriment. As a Virginia DUI lawyer, I have repeatedly seen the gold from criminal defendants' remaining silent with police and the feces that comes from...
Sexual battery is a misdemeanor in Virginia. This past week, en banc, the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed a sexual battery conviction where the defendant twisted his victim's breasts as hard as he could. Virginia v. Robinson, ___ Va. App. ___ (June 18, 2019). As...
Alcohol consumption risks can include a DWI conviction numerous other consequences. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I advise my clients on those relevant risks and work to blunt them. Not wanting to be a killjoy, I nonetheless warn of the risks of driving a motor...
Racial injustice remains too common. Society has made important strides towards racial justice after Martin Luther King, Jr., shared his dream, but we remain far from reaching his goal for full racial justice. As a Virginia criminal lawyer who moved from Manhattan to attend law...
Impaired driving convictions risk jail and other adverse penalties. As a Virginia DUI lawyer, I know the importance of pursuing a full court press against such prosecutions. I know how important it is to move the judge and jury away from piecemeal evaluation of cases...
Double jeopardy rights are enshrined in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution: No person shall be "subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." As a Fairfax County, Virginia, criminal defense lawyer, I have long known...
Pot criminalization unnecessarily taxes limited government budgets and civil liberties. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and civil libertarian, I thank Virginia attorney general Mark Herring for recently stating his support for marijuana decriminalization as follows: "Virginia should decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, address...
Teamwork is constant among the mix of police officers and prosecutors. Likewise, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that teamwork between a lawyer and his or her client can spell the difference between winning and losing in court. While I have the relevant legal...
Preparing your DWI case defense needs to begin with little delay. My preference as a Virginia DUI lawyer is that you not get prosecuted nor convicted in the first place. Consequently, it is ideal for people to know their rights with the police and risks...
Fearless approaches backed by ability and experience are essential for defending the accused in court. As a Virginia criminal lawyer I know that in the heat of battle all that matters to win is ability, experience, wits, cunning and no fear. Enjoying the combat also...
Questioning by police is commonplace with investigations for possible DUI, felonies and misdemeanors. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that absence of Miranda rights is not always a bar to admitting the suspect's statements into evidence. At the same time, such rights do not...
Suspects and everyone else have the right to remain silent with police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have seen too many criminal defendants create their own nooses by not keeping their mouths shut with police. Even in states requiring a person to identify himself...
Sobriety testing -- also known as standard field sobriety testing, SFST or FST -- is a tool relied on by police in deciding whether to arrest a person for DUI and reporting on such cases, and then relied on by prosecutors in trying to obtain...
Voters on June 11 favored reform-talking challengers over incumbents who had previously received the seal of approval of their long-serving predecessors, in Fairfax County and Arlington/Falls Church. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer who has maintained a sidelines wait-and-see view about how much more good than...
Driving restrictions are onerous for a DWI conviction under Va. Code § 18.2-266 and pour salt in the wounds of already having such a conviction, and even more so for those receiving active jail time for such a conviction. As a Virginia DUI lawyer, I...
Waiving rights with police is all too common by criminal suspects who do not have attorneys. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that it rarely benefits an unrepresented criminal suspect to relinquish his or her rights to remain silent with the police, to have...
Intox EC/IR II (Intox) testing is the sole breath test machine approved by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (DFS) in DWI cases. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know how essential it is to aggressively challenge the admissibility, reliability and meaning of such test...
