Criminal Defense
A blue uniform makes one no more likely to tell the truth (and more likely to lie?)
When I remind judges that the law does not cloak police with any more credibility than a civilian, they readily agree with me. However, in reality, a huge percentage of judges seem to assign a higher level of credibility to police. It is exasperating to...
In Virginia, the handgun is legal when segregated by a closed glove compartment
Image from the Government Printing Office’s website. Spend enough time around Virginia Circuit Court clerk office windows, and you will hear the stream of applicants for concealed carry handgun permits. Many parts of Virginia and other parts of the South greet visitors and locals with particularly kind words...
Sentencing in Virginia – Be Ready for Showtime
“What are my chances of winning or of no jail?” is a common question potential criminal defense and DWI clients ask me. When they come to me early on for Virginia cases, I have thin information on which to base my reply, although I do...
Giving a cop the finger does not justify a stop nor arrest. (I am not pulling your finger — I mean leg — either.)
The middle finger never needs to be extended towards anyone. We have enough other fingers to gesture and point. Giving the finger is divisive in a world where we are all connected, and where the negative energy of giving the finger comes back to us...
Beware the “time served” illusion
During my first year as a public defender lawyer, I arrived at the courthouse at my customary early time at least an hour before the judge took the bench, and at the courtroom customarily early. On my way to the courtroom with my ten to...
Fourth Circuit affirms conviction of foreign national for overseas theft
How do United States courts get extraterritorial jurisdiction over criminal prosecutions for crimes allegedly committed outside the United States? How did a United States federal trial court get jurisdiction over the prosecution of Manuel Noriega (I was not yet a criminal defense lawyer when the U.S....
Before spilling the beans to the cops, read and negotiate the fine print
"No" is an essential response by a police suspect who has no lawyer present. On the other hand, once they have lawyers, a slew of federal criminal suspects line up with their lawyers at prosecutors’ doors right away in the hopes of getting more favorable...
Drive with defective automobile equipment at your own risk
One would think that those driving with contraband would avoid having defective vehicle equipment — for instance burnt-out headlights and taillights — to reduce their risk of being stopped for traffic offenses. However, repeatedly my clients tell me that the police correctly reported such defects,...
I’ve been suspected/stopped/arrested. Now what? Thanksgiving weekend edition
Holiday time means more police on the lookout for people to arrest to meet their arrest quotas perceived obligations to the public. Watch out for speed traps, sobriety checkpoints, police watching for easy targets leaving bars, and more. Long ago, I lost track of the...
Persuading and not fearing judges, by seeing them as just one of us
Good lawyer training sessions teach lawyers to persuade jurors by being in the roll of the thirteenth juror — figuratively in the jury box with the jurors, being an “us” rather than an other with the jury. This path is a two-way street, starting with...