Criminal Defense

Abolishing the death penalty has long been critical for me. Abolition is a major human rights, social justice, and racial justice issue. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and longtime human rights activist, I bristled when eight years ago a fellow Virginia criminal defense lawyer called...

Open beer, wine and alcohol containers often are consumed while covered in paper bags to try to avoid police intervention. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Virginia law bars consuming alcohol while driving, and also possessing an alcoholic beverage in a public schoolyard.

Sea changes are happening that benefit criminal defendants with the new Virginia chief prosecutors in Fairfax County, Arlington and Loudoun As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I see numerous personnel changes at these Virginia commonwealth attorneys' offices; more flexibility with numerous case negotiations; and more opportunity...

Juvenile life without parole cannot be made mandatory by statute when the crime was committed under the age of eighteen. Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460 (2012); Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 718 (2016). As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that after...

DFS -- the Virginia Department of Forensic Science -- on January 24, 2020, announced (1) a new testing procedure to rule out industrial hemp and (2) no longer requiring a court order for the agency to test suspected marijuana. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I...

Subsequent drug prosecution is possible when a person is found with illegal drugs in place A, leading to a successful drug search of the person's home in place B. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the importance of avoiding more than one prosecution arising...

Marijuana field tests and DUI breathalyzer equipment should preclude allowing the field testing and breath testing results into evidence at trial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have in many DWI trials objected to breath testing results when the breath technician has mistakenly referred...

Lobbying to add, stop and change legislation can be a challenging, painstaking and lengthy experience. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, today I witnessed receptiveness to criminal justice reform by Virginia legislators -- at least Democrats --when I today joined around one hundred other...

Evening and even reversing the playing field to the criminal defendant's advantage is critical. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I repeatedly see the difference that can be spelled between having a qualified criminal defense lawyer and no lawyer at all in court. The people disparaging...

Legislative reform beneficial to criminal defendants is more in reach than ever in Virginia now that Democrats control both of the commonwealth's House and Senate for the first time in decades. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that Democrats are not automatically better...