Criminal Defense
Supreme Court allows stiff gun sentencing to continue
Second Amendment or no Second Amendment, count on the Supreme Court to continue permitting legislation allowing stiff mandatory minimum sentences for possessing guns in relation to enumerated felonies. Yesterday, the Court unanimously held that the highest gun mandatory minimum specified for a Defendant’s conduct in 18...
Federal trial judge provides further support for lawyer-conducted voir dire
When I am in a room of trial judges presenting a seminar, I sometimes urge them to expand the opportunity for lawyer-directed voir dire jury questioning/selection rather than letting judges do it. In Virginia, the law permits lawyer-directed voir dire, whereas custom permits it in...
Virginia marijuana defendants – Fairfax criminal lawyer on 251
Virginia marijuana defendants in some Virginia District courtrooms constitute a parade of unrepresented people on their first court date. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that word has gotten out that if a marijuana possession defendant has no relevant prior convictions, s/he can save...
Fourth Circuit confirms stiff barriers to police interpreting defendants’ words
Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). Police and prosecutors may be fond of presenting testimony to interpret alleged drug dealers’ words. However, they should beware, after the comparatively conservative (including for criminal cases) Fourth Circuit confirmed stiff barriers to such testimony. U.S. v. Johnson, 617 F.3d 286...
Beware harsh court filing deadlines
Court filing deadlines often can be harsh and inflexible, including for filing criminal and civil notices of appeal. It is best to meet court deadlines well ahead of time to avoid cold sweats when the court is closed due to inclement weather on the last...
Frisking Merely for “Officer’s Safety” is Unconstitutional, Absent Reasonable Articulable Suspicion
An arrest is but an arrest, and is not a conviction. Know your rights. (Image from FBI’s website). By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer fighting for the best possible results in the courts of Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and...
When prosecutors ask defense lawyers for a post-conviction affidavit
A colleague recently told me that he has previously complied with prosecutors’ requests for affidavits responding to his former criminal defense clients’ post conviction petitions. At least according to a July 2010 ABA formal opinion, providing such an affidavit is inadviseable, at the very least. I agree, mainly for...
Forced medication of criminal defendants and loss of inmates’ bodily autonomy
1975’s groundbreaking One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest film highlighted the dangers of forced mental institutionalization, forced medication, forced electroshock therapy, and forced lobotomies (I question whether lobotomies can ever do more good than harm). Whether or not influenced by public outcries following Cuckoo’s Nest,...
Seven lessons from a post-traffic stop conviction
Two nights ago while I was about to make a U-turn around a blocked-off street while police searched the Discovery Channel building after James Lee had already been killed, a woman crossing the street in front of me started asking if I could give her a...
Beware of Riding in a Stolen Car
Unfortunately, the state of the law reduces how carefree one may feel being in a car with others. If the car is stopped — or a house searched — and contraband is found on anyone in the car or home, do not be surprised if the police...