Criminal Defense
Going to trial is the only way to know whether you will win, and the lawyer must fight like hell at trial and throughout the case
What is the most exhilarating part of being a criminal defense lawyer? Trials. Trials must be well-prepared and well fought; that is a given. Those meant for trial work will feel invigorated rather than exhausted by the battle.
Stop non-lawyer Virginia magistrates from approving search warrant applications and insert teeth into judicial search warrant application reviews
Virginia has a sad state of affairs that allows magistrates -- who are not required to be law school graduates unless they are a chief magistrate -- to review and approve search warrant applications. Virginia non-chief magistrates only need to have bachelors degrees.
On the invigoration of serving criminal defense clients, and simply serving
Keys to happiness and satisfaction with work and life are service, generosity and gratitude, which all focus outward rather than towards one's ego and selfishness. It also helps to love what you do and do what you love. Ego and selfishness are dualistic and about...
Criminalizing driving over a specific THC/marijuana blood level ignores the absence of a cause-effect correlation
It was bad enough that 2000 federal highway legislation shoved mandatory criminalization of driving with a 0.08 blood alcohol level down the states’ throats under the penalty of otherwise losing federal highway funding. Now we have a slippery slope of governments trying to criminalize threshold...
Dangled Constitutional Rights: Virginia’s Supreme Court affirms drug conviction despite a police stop without a dangling object violation
Virginia's Supreme Court has affirmed a drug conviction resulting from a traffic stop by a police officer misunderstanding the state's law against dangling objects that obstruct the driver's view
Pounce on warrantless police searches of bags in motel rooms and other residences
Appellate opinions on search and seizure repeatedly uphold warrantless police searches of nearly innumerable varieties. Fortunately, today Virginia's Court of Appeals underlined the continued sanctity of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, by requiring the exclusion of illegal drugs found in Lashant...
Succeeding with even the most despicable-seeming opponents through sticking, keeping within arms length, the joy of intelligence, non-duality, and equanimity
Remember importance of keeping proverbial physical contact with opponents, because maintaining physical contact with an opponent gives us the best chance not only to listen to and anticipate where they are coming from now and next, but also to neutralize and overcome their attacks much...
The landmines of inmates’ pretrial conversations with friends and family — all recorded
At some point, people detained pending their criminal trials -- and their friends and family -- let their guard down that all their conversations (save attorney-client communications, ordinarily) are tape-recorded and often reviewed and used by law enforcement and prosecutors.
Police must at least be competent and should instead be highly qualified
The Tulsa sheriff's department's hiring of volunteer sheriff Robert Bates on the apparent cheap cost the life of Eric Harris, a tragedy for Mr. Harris's family, Bates's conviction and pending sentencing, and likely a huge dollar payoff from any lawsuit that Mr. Harris's family has...
Virginia Governor Restores Voting Rights for Over 200,000 Who Have Completed Their Felony Sentences
On April 22, 2016, Virginia's governor Terry McAuliffe restored the voting rights, and right to run for office and be a notary public, for over two hundred thousand people who have completed their felony sentences, and any supervised release, parole or probation.