Criminal Defense

Testifying in Virginia criminal court requires thorough and intelligent preparation Testifying for the criminal defense is no merely simple exercise of engaging in questions and answers, which I know as a Virginia criminal lawyer. This is the second of a two-part article. The first part...

Testimony in court by criminal defendants needs to be carefully and thoroughly prepared in tandem with the defendant's attorney. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the decision whether to testify -- thus waiving the defendant's Fifth Amendment right to remain silent -- is...

Protecting the preliminary hearing (PH) right is critical, as underlined in my last blog entry. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that prosecutors sometimes will try to avoid a PH by direct indicting, by seeking a nolle prosequi/ non-prejudicial case dismissal (which cannot be...

Preliminary hearings in Virginia are an opportunity for the criminal defense lawyer to challenge "whether there is reasonable ground to believe that he committed" the alleged felony(ies). Va. Code § 19.2-218. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know how important is the preliminary hearing date...

Harmless error findings on appeal from a criminal conviction can preclude obtaining appellate relief. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer I know that trial victory is better than waiting for the long process in the Virginia Court of Appeals or commonwealth Supreme Court to see whether...

Confessing crimes is what police want from suspects. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that silence is golden, and that criminal suspects are playing with fire to talk with police -- if at all -- without the presence and assistance of a qualified lawyer....

Jury trial practice is the ultimate of criminal defense. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer I know that great criminal defense and cross examination teacher Terry McCarthy may have overstated that a non-jury trial is akin to a slow plea, but I have nonetheless experienced the...

Incarceration time and convictions are what my clients and I fight mightily to avoid. Nonetheless, as a Virginia criminal attorney, I know that the jails have inmates, and they want to know when they will be released. In Virginia, non-mandatory minimum jail release dates are...

Enemies are obstacles that are found in abundance if a criminal defense lawyer wants to find them. However, as a Fairfax criminal attorney, I know that acquittals and other court victories are obtained by not getting bogged down by seeming enemies nor by apparently insurmountable...

Minors are heavily protected under Virginia law against adults seeking sexual activity with them. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that adults are prohibited from knowingly and intentionally doing the following with children under fifteen years old (and even with cops posing as such...