Criminal Defense

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...

Virginia guerrilla (VG)  lawyering is essential in terms of relentlessly, effectively and skillfully fighting for criminal and DUI defendants until the best possible results are achieved. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I draw my ongoing inspiration for VG lawyering from all relevant places, regardless of...

Virginia firearm law is among the most Second Amendment-friendly in the nation, but does not greenlight firearm possession by convicted felons nor reckless handling of such weapons. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that being caught redhanded in unlawful possession of a firearm is...

Virginia public safety exception caselaw gives police a certain extent of leeway to question detained criminal suspects without first reading them their rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), to remain silent and to a lawyer. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I believe that the...

Virginia mistrial law gives prosecutors even wide shenanigan latitude before a criminal defendant may benefit from making a mistrial motion (MM) l and arguing that the Sixth Amendment Constitutional Double Jeopardy clause bars a retrial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I see that the Virginia...

Fairfax conviction results -- and in all other Virginia courts -- can next lead to the defendant's seeking appellate relief. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am very disappointed that a Circuit Court judge in this county found no Miranda violation in Marco Chavarria's sexual battery case,...