Criminal Defense

Fairfax criminal defendants for a year have experienced going to court for most non-Virginia DUI misdemeanor prosecutions to see no prosecutor involved in their case. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Virginia law does not require prosecutors to be involved in adult misdemeanor...

Refusing police searches often makes the difference between winning and losing against a Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI prosecution. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, repeatedly I hear my clients who consent to police searches say that the police were going to find the contraband or...

Virginia bail hearing victories can be exhilarating. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that getting released from jail pending trial for a Virginia DUI, felony or misdemeanor prosecution can be the only assurance that the criminal defendant will not lose his job, home, and...

Virginia statutory interpretation challenges need always to be at the ready by criminal defense lawyers. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that an acquittal based on a statutory interpretation challenge is as beneficial for the accused as a challenge to the veracity of the...

Virginia cops and other police nationwide are aware of the concept of a community caretaking function, which they and prosecutors try to use in the absence of any other possible justifiable grounds for searching and seizing people and their property, and for entering their homes....

The bad cops make good cops' jobs harder. On top of that, how often do police not take measures against misconduct they see by their colleagues, remain silent about it, and even help to cover it up? As I repeatedly say, police come from the...

For nearly one year, chief Fairfax commonwealth's attorney Steve Descano made a gambit over being re-electable when he withdrew his office from most misdemeanor prosecutions beyond Virginia DUI, assault with intimate partners, and fatal collision prosecutions. His gamble may have paid off, based on a...

Fairfax convictions with former rogue police officer Jonathan Freitag are in line for the chief prosecutor to seek to undo them. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I am thankful that former police officer Freitag's deceit has been uncovered, but also know that solving his misdeeds...

Marijuana reform has been a major issue for me for decades, and now the years of hard work and sweat equity (none of which I take credit for) by marijuana legalization activists has paid off amazingly as Virginia joins the ranks of other states that...

Drug court judges repeatedly hear police justify stops, frisks, searches and arrests of criminal suspects based on their purported "knowledge, training and experience" and behavior consistent with criminal activity. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that police have no superhuman cognition. I also...