Criminal Defense

Sentencing success is less preferable than trial success. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know, nonetheless, that it is folly to prepare for trial without also being prepared for sentencing in the event of a conviction or an eventual plea deal. Recently, the sentencing judge's...

Trial for me is like breathing and brushing teeth. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and Virginia DUI attorney, I know that being fully prepared for trial is a given. Truer than true is that being full trial readiness makes one's Virginia criminal or DUI case...

Jail risks in Virginia criminal court sometimes may be anticipated and sometimes not. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I pursue not only acquittals, but also ways to minimize the collateral damage from a Virginia criminal conviction on one's career, security clearance, immigration status, uniformed military...

Virginia judges -- at least some in Northern Virginia, Norfolk and Portsmouth courts -- have engaged in pushback of one sort or another after self-styled reformist chief prosecutors took office there. As a Fairax criminal lawyer, I am delighted to report that on October 21,...

Family members and friends often express profound concern to me about their relatives / friends who have been charged  witha Virginia criminal or DUI offense. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such concern and support -- in measured fashion -- can be beneficial...

Incriminating evidence can abound in a lawbreaker's abandoned garbage. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police can be like vultures waiting for drug suspects and subjects of DNA-related criminal investigations to dispose of their trash on the street or anywhere else where police...

Aggravated assault is an apt phrase for characterizing Virginia's malicious wounding statute. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I read with a dropped jaw at Lennis McNair, Jr.'s ability to convince a judge to sentence him only to three months active jail time, despite being convicted...

Police raid activity is filled with adrenaline by police and their suspects, civilians being taken by surprise, and the moment of truth of helping to save one's skin by asserting one's right to remain silent and to a lawyer, or to do the opposite, thus inviting...

Annoyance, harassment and online trespass can be crimes in Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I post this second part of a two-part article on this area of the criminal law in the commonwealth. Part one is here. In key part, Virginia's computer annoyance trespass...

Harassment in one form or another risks a Virginia prosecution under one or more parts of the Virginia Code.  As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I here address Virginia's key statutes prohibiting such conduct. Among the most commonly used Virginia statutes in this category are those...