Criminal Defense

Fairfax prosecutors on December 7, 2020, received official written confirmation from their boss not to seek cash bonds against criminal defendants. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I can see how this news as reported in the media might at first blush seem pro-criminal defendant, and...

Fairfax jury trials are in the process of resuming, mainly starting with criminal defendants being held without any payable or affordable bond. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that one judge this week made the bold ruling to keep past judges' portraits off his...

High crime area is a phrase that police like using to try to justify their reason for focusing their attention on a particular suspect. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am always ready to challenge the legality of police stops, detentions, frisks and arrests. This...

Succeed against your Virginia District Court prosecution. If you do not, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that you get another bite at the apple through an appeal to Circuit Court. This appeal right has never been more beneficial, now that selecting a jury...

Virginia arraignment and attorney review dates are critical to correctly calendar and follow. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Northern Virginia courts ordinarily excuse a criminal and DUI defendant's appearance at such court dates so long as a lawyer timely files his or...

Broker criminal case settlements that minimize harm to the criminal defendant. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that needs to be a criminal defense lawyer's watchword. A case in point is Evans & Conway v. Commonwealth of Virginia, ___ Va. ___ (Dec. 3, 2020), where...

Counter and know who the dangerous prosecutors are. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that all prosecutors are potentially dangerous, even those who have for years acted otherwise. Even the best meaning Virginia prosecutor has an agenda that is first and foremost to serve...

In Francis, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the evidence was sufficient to convict in two separate neighboring county circuit courts for felony eluding police from the same police officer during the same chase. Rejecting that the two separate convictions protected Francis under...

Multiple criminal actions mean that the perpetrator might receive a separate Virginia criminal charge for each such action, rather than having them all rolled into one criminal accusation. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the concept of a harsher sentence for more criminal...

Miranda applicablity depends on whether the criminal defendant is in police custody. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I hear many arrestees underline that the police did not read them their rights. However, without police custody, the Miranda rule from the United States Supreme Court does not...