Criminal Defense
Halloween treats galore today from Virginia’s Supreme Court
Image from Virginia Forestry Dept’s website. Halloween treats came before sundown today with the following favorable criminal rulings from Virginia’s Supreme Court, which issues opinions around every six weeks: – Virginia’s Supreme Court reversed a rape conviction where not more than a scintilla of evidence...
Max Hardcore’s Obscenity Sentencing- Fairfax criminal lawyer weighs in
Max Hardcore -- the stage name for Paul LIttle -- in 2008 received a 46 month prison sentence on his federal court obscenity conviction that followed a jury trial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer deeply opposed to obscenity due to free expression and First Amendment...
First Amendment slays spam conviction
Computer hard drive. (Image from Pacific Northwest Laboratory’s website). Thanks to the lawyer(s) who last Friday won a First Amendment-based reversal of a spam conviction in Jaynes v. Com., ___ Va. ___ (Sept. 12, 2008), http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1062388.pdf. The Jaynes victory reverses the February 2008 Virginia Supreme Court...
When Miranda Does and Does Not Come to the Rescue
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Many of my clients complain that the police never read them their rights. I wish the police always had that obligation when questioning a person, but that is not the situation. Generally, the police must advise a suspect of...
Red lights, dogs and the Fourth Circuit
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Police love when suspects drive cars. The driver is bound to violate one traffic law or another, thus justifying a police stop of the car, and an attempt to reveal criminal activity afoot. Police also love to bring "drug" dogs to attempt...
Calling the Dogs Means a Detention
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Praised be Virginia’s intermediate appellate court for generally finding that a detention takes place once a police officer tells a person that s/he is having a drug dog come to search the suspect’s vehicle. In Middlebrooks v. Virginia, ___...
When release is conditioned on drugging
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) More commonly when I was a public defender lawyer, from time to time I would have clients who were at great risk of being ordered by the judge for a psychological evaluation — e.g., for being seriously delusional, and, therefore,...
Where to Check Speedometer Calibration
Here are some Northern Virginia businesses that have been reported to me as providing speedometer calibration checks. I tend to recommend such checks for clients accused of jailable reckless driving based on excessive speed. This list is a few years old at the time of...
Defending criminal copyright infringement cases
Computer hard drive. (Image from Pacific Northwest Laboratory’s website). According to a posting at lawyer Allan Ellis’s website, the United States Sentencing Commission reports that 94% of federal criminal cases result in guilty pleas. This week, my client and I bucked that trend by proceeding...
Does the First Amendment prohibit convictions for juxtaposing lawful images of children with adult sexual images?
Bill of Rights (From public domain.) NOTE: The following blog entry was written before the awful May 19 Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Williams (May 19, 2008). This blog entry follows up on my previous discussions of child pornography defense here and here. With the current...