Criminal Defense

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),...

"Turnaround," and "stop" are police commands that mean "no reasonable person would have believed he or she was free to leave." As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that such a cop command thereby amounts to a Fourth Amendment seizure of the suspect unless...

Striking jurors is an essential part of pursuing the best possible result in a jury trial. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that before a lawyer even presents an opening statement to a jury, the attorney must proceed with jury voir dire /...

Booze is a big business in Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the Virginia governor lists liquor stores (only government-run stores may sell alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine) as essential businesses on par with grocery stores during is stay at...

Temperature checks and Covid-19-related questioning are likely to expand across Virginia courthouses. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that at least four courthouses are now checking court visitors' body temperature (which I anticipate will involve a brief laser burst to one's forehead) and/or...

Hearsay is an out of court statement offered into evidence at trial to prove the truth of the matter asserted therein. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that hearsay generally is inadmissible at trial unless an applicable evidentiary exception applies. When it comes to...