Criminal Defense

Convicting for assault in the commonwealth requires an overt act, says Virginia criminal lawyer Convicting for assault (for instance under Virginia Code § 18.2-57 cannot merely happen with testimony that the complainant / alleged victim feared the defendant for his or her threatening words. As...

Virginia corporal punishment defense is so favorable to parents that it might create cringing in those who believe in rarely if ever laying disciplinary or punishing hands on one's child. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, my sole obligation and goal for a client charged with...

Virginia abduction law (VA law) underlines how humorless is the commonwealth's body of criminal law. As a Fairfax crininal lawyer, I know that a judge will not have any sympathy with any argument that the commonly understood meaning of abduction is forcibly bringing a person...

Defending against Virginia prosecutions is my profession, and is about protecting the Constitution's Bill of Rights, mainly the Fourth Amendment right against unlawful police searches, seizures and arrests; the Fifth Amendment's assurances that a criminal suspect's affirmative assertion of silence not be used against him...

Hearsay evidence faces more lax standards for admissibility than at a Virginia criminal trial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I regret this state of affairs, but it is a reality that must be reckoned with. This is among the reasons that Virginia criminal defendants should...

Suppression hearings are a vital part of Virginia DUI and criminal defense. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer / criminal attorney, I have won many trials at the stage where I argue that the police unlawfully stopped or arrested my client, either without reasonable articulable suspicion...

Bluff-free Virginia criminal defense is what you need when charged with alleged DUI / driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, or a misdemeanor or felony offense. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that my clients deserve nothing less than such an approach...

Evidence suppression arguments are critical to Virginia preliminary hearings (which cover felony cases) and for all Virginia misdemeanor and felony trials. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I had thought this was a given for preliminary hearings, but in the last few months, a Fairfax District...

Victims rights (VR) must not be permitted to trample Virginia criminal defendants' rights. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that they should not even be called Virginia victims (VV's) -- versus alleged VV's or complainants -- before a conviction takes place. I further know...

Virginia Circuit Court judges must articulate the reason for their denying bond / bail / pretrial release to a criminal defendant, for the reasons addressed below. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have experienced District Court judges who do not state those reasons. Their reasoning...