Criminal Defense
SCOTUS strengthens giving retroactive effect to its procedural opinions benefitting criminal defendants
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court gave retrospective effect to Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. ___ (2012), which prohibits mandatory, versus discretionary, life without parole sentences for those who committed crimes while under eighteen years old.
One-size-fits-all prosecutorial negotiating approaches disserve all parties and invite patchwork negotiating over jurisdictions and time
As glorious as are criminal trial victories, settlement negotiations are very important for many criminal defendants, because many of them are caught redhanded and have thin reeds at best for avoiding worse and significantly more punishing outcomes at trial than trough settling their case.
Taking the community service task by the horns
My community service recommendations come in the context of my advising my criminal defense clients to complete some tasks or "homework" to assist in negotiating their cases and to assist with any possible sentencing.
Be ready for a full criminal defense battle, particularly because too many police, prosecutors and judges are hostile to criminal defendants
Those seeking convictions will love nothing better than a complacent criminal defense lawyer and criminal defendant. Complacency has no proper role in criminal defense. The battle lines are drawn at the moment the criminal defendant is charged with a crime, and from there the battle...
Make “No” with the police your New Year’s resolution
For this new year and every subsequent new year, the resolution must be "no" when a police suspect.
Wake the recklessly nasty opponent up to reality, and use the opened proverbial incision to weaken the opponent and strengthen your side
The criminal defense lawyer must be ready to hold a proverbial mirror to the contemptuous prosecutor and a flashlight to his or her eyes and face to put the prosecutor's true self on ugly and point-losing display
The fight for justice is no popularity contest, and the battle can be exhilaratingly powerful
My client can get swept up with me in that fireball of positive energy that focuses on directing a fan at any dirt thrown our way rather than descending into curses and complaints.
Rampantly insufficient guilty/no contest plea colloquys in Virginia General District Courts
Criminal defendants live with the damage from convictions their entire lives. They should be entitled to a few extra moments to better assure that they are entering guilty and no contest pleas knowingly and voluntarily.
Criminal defendants need to face even the ugliest aspects of their cases, with their lawyers backing them up
Criminal defendants' mere need for my services does not automatically mean anything worse than that they have been accused of a crime and are presumed innocent and well may be innocent, but the very risk of a conviction can clash for them with their sense...
When you feel grounded, the ground will feel more level and firm
By now, I already know that even the most sturdily built courthouse has proverbial quicksand traps, booby traps, and areas of flimsiness. Therefore, I have myself to feel grounded before I ever step foot in the courthouse, so that my client also will feel more...