Criminal Defense

Facemasks must be worn before entering all Northern Virginia courthouses, until further notice during Covid-19. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I provide you the following links for the mask policies -- most similar to each other -- in the Fairfax County, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William...

Blabbermouthing with police is a dangerous thing. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the importance for criminal suspects and arrestees to remain silent with the police, and too often see them foster a conviction by not asserting their rights under the United States Constitution's...

Objecting is part of the toolkit of a trial lawyer. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that non-trials are resuming this week in most Virginia counties, while jury trials are on hold, during Covid-19. For courts not resuming most trials, they are expected to...

Conspiratorial conduct -- known as a conspiracy -- arises when two or more people enter an agreement to commit a crime or series of crimes.  As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that for certain non-drug felony conspiracies, the Virginia sentencing maximum is less than...

Emergency aid by police sometimes can justify police in Virginia to enter one's home without a search warrant. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that once police justifiably enter a home without a warrant, they may also be permitted to conduct what is known...

Robbery in Virginia is sentenced harshly. from five years to life in prison. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that it is folly for an accused robber of contraband or its proceeds, to assert innocence on the basis of the defendant's ownership of...

Circumstantial evidence is permissible for a prosecutor to seek a conviction for unlawful possession of a handgun and for possessing any other contraband. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that under Virginia law, a conviction for possessing an unlawful firearm or any other contraband...

Resuming trial dates in Virginia raises the question about why the Virginia Supreme Court continues to suspend all jury trials. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that jury trials are a particular challenge to physical distancing, because jury boxes and jury deliberation rooms...

Resetting court dates has been happening since March 2020, due to Virginia Supreme Court's Covid-19-related judicial emergency orders. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the most recent and fourth state Supreme Court judicial emergency order (issued May 6) continues jury trials but lets...

Burglary convictions are not automatically avoided merely because the suspect initially ran out of sight, and was masked. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such factors as the suspect's body size, proximity to the burglary location (both in terms of location and time),...