Criminal Defense

Virginia obstruction of justice convictions cannot be obtained for mere flight from police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the foregoing scenario changes if the criminal defendant pushes on a police officer to get away from him or her. Lucas v. Commonwealth of Virginia,...

Virginia street gang law makes it a class 5 felony (1) to participate in or be a member of a criminal street gang, and (2) to knowingly and willfully participate in any predicate criminal act (3) committed for the benefit of, at the direction of,...

Virginia uncorroborated sexual assault claims cannot lead to a conviction without credible testimony from the alleged victim. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that for that reason, in 1977 the Virginia Supreme Court reversed a rape conviction finding the complainant's incredible as a matter...

Virginia prosecutions for soliciting minors for sexual activity often involve sting operations with a police officer masquerading as a minor. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I would hope the image of a bearded, balding (let's add full of offensive body odor and ugly, if that...

Virginia false criminal allegations can lead to wrongful arrests, prosecutions and convictions. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that videotaping and audiotaping equipment is now so advanced and inexpensive that one can barely take a stroll in a neighborhood without being filmed by residents'...

Fairfax inmate -- and all inmate -- religious rights do not stop at the jail door. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I successfully took that argument right to the county detention center authorities when obtaining authorization for my client to return to covering his hair...

Police lying -- so long as the lie is not a false promise of leniency to the suspect -- is generally allowed by the courts for extracting a confession from a criminal defendant. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I say that when the police lie...

Virginia Miranda loopholes can be looked at cynically as an effort by those hostile to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), to do an end-run against that landmark Supreme Court decision requiring custodial police interrogation to be preceded by warning the suspect of their Fifth Amendment Constitutional right...

Virginia unlawful wounding charges are damning if a conviction results. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I commit to memory that the commonwealth's unlawful wounding statute provides that: "If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, or wound any person or by any means cause him bodily...

Virginia police officers are not friends of criminal defendants. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I say this out of pure reality, and not from any political agenda, but certainly out of an agenda of pursuing the best possible results for those accused of Virginia DUI...