Criminal Defense

Keeping focus on victory helps make the naysayers, hecklers and vicious folks disappear from sight and sound. One day a rather new Fairfax, Virginia prosecutor motioned me into the courtroom antechamber while we awaited our DUI trial to be called, so I thought he was either...

Hecklers are not the judge nor jury. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that advocating for the accused is no popularity contest, but about saving the life, liberty, reputation, and livelihood of the client. As one of the faculty of the National Criminal...

Daylight so often lacks in police encounters with suspects. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the power of simply shining the light of day on an opposing witness and on the prosecutor's words. any years ago, I was driving home, alone, down a dark,...

Trespassing may be prosecuted in Virginia both for remaining on property after the owner's authorized agent says to leave, and entering property posted against doing so. Va. Code § 18.2-119. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such a conviction does not automatically preclude...

Knowing one's true self is vital to anyone's life. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that discovering and reccognizing my true self is essential not only to me as a person, but for everything I do as a criminal defense lawyer, from connecting and...

Masked people abound as Covid-19 continues without a care, moving from host to host, slowing here and surging there. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that coronavirus must not be permitted to water down justice. For Due Process and the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause...

LEO -- law enforcement officers -- home searches can only lawfully take place with a valid search warrant, sufficient consent from an authorized person, or (infrequently) exigent circumstances. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police search caselaw is not as friendly to criminal...

A mistrial can happen for a number of reasons in Virginia, including a hung jury and evidence of misconduct in the jury room. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that a criminal defendants' Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy rights bar a retrial after a mistrial...

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant drug. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that a Virginia conviction for meth possession carries up to ten years in prison, as opposed to a conviction for meth (or any other Schedule I or II drug) possession with...

Fairfax policing of course is not immune from misconduct, because police are humans, and all humans are fallible. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am thankful that body camera footage caught Fairfax County, Virginia police officer Tyler Timberlake unnecessarily tasing a disoriented man not just...