Criminal Defense

Fairfax criminal lawyer points out the differing scope of appellate rights depending on the court where a guilty plea is entered. Appeal rights after a guilty plea depend on which court took the plea. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I here address those differing appeal rights...

Actual innocence reversals are not common in Virginia, but that does not mean that a criminal defendant should not consider that avenue. Today's blogpost is the second of a two-part article on this issue.

Beware pleading guilty, no contest/nolo contendere, or Alford. Doing so bypasses your Constitutional right to trial and hands the prosecutor a conviction. Consequently, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that before departing from a not guilty/innocent plea, a criminal defendant needs to have fully...

Prolonged police traffic stops too often fly in the face of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police try to use traffic stops as a pretext to investigate for such more serious and unrelated...

Commercial driver licenses ("CDL") issued in Virginia are at risk for a whole host of convictions for Virginia criminal charges and traffic infraction charges. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles website here provides an overview of these CDL risks from such driving convictions as DUI/driving...

Virginia's presumption of no bail law gets no presumption of innocence offset, as confirmed this week by Virginia's Supreme Court. Virginia v. Duse, ___ Va. ___ (Feb. 12, 2018). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the harshness of Virginia (Va. Code § 19.2-120) and...

Virginia probation revocations -- as well as probation revocations in any other American jurisdiction -- are risked by new convictions for crimes committed during one's probation period. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the stiff probation revocation sentencing that can result from proof of...

Marijuana field testing is junk science. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I say so, because even a drug chemist's testimony is subject to reasonable inquiry and sometimes attack, even when the chemist is completely legitimate with his or her credentials and honesty.

Challenging showup identifications is a must for criminal defendants whose guilt or innocence rises or falls on post-crime identification by the alleged crime victim or witnesses to the incident. Daquan Lamar Scott's lawyers knew about and pursued challenging showup identifications, but Scott nonetheless got convicted...

Persuading judges, opponents and others is a skill that requires experience and a number approaches, some of which I address here, here and here.  As a Fairfax, Virginia, criminal lawyer, I know how essential it is to skilfully engage everyone we aim to persuade. Today,...