Criminal Defense

Fairfax criminal lawyer urges good police and judicial conduct to be contagions for a better criminal justice system. Police patience and de-escalation are sorely needed in our overpoliced society where I have witnessed a police officer yelling his head off at a driver who had...

Fairfax criminal lawyer on a marijuana case victory for Timothy Leary. Marijuana tax act (Act) prosecutions were popular right through the 1960's, until the United States Supreme Court in 1969 reversed LSD guru Timothy Leary's conviction for not complying with the Act, in that complying...

Virginia criminal lawyer warns to keep one's birthday suit clothed in the presence of children. Exposing genitals to a minor can get an adult in hot water in Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that too many adults will intentionally expose their genitals...

Fairfax criminal lawyer on criminal liability for discharging a firearm indoors in Virginia. Unlawful firearm discharge indoors is a Class 4 or 6 felony in Virginia (depending on whether malice is involved), respectively carrying up to ten and five years in prison. As a Fairfax...

Virginia lawyer on the need for criminal suspects to remain silent. Silent mouths are essential for criminal suspects. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I have repeatedly seen the benefits of following this rule of silence, and too often seen the damage from violating it.

Fairfax criminal lawyer on the Virginia Forensic Science Department and Petitions for Writs of Actual Innocence. Virginia Forensic Science Department -- also known as the Department of Forensic Science or DFS -- is involved in such wide-ranging activities as governing breath and blood testing for...

Fairfax criminal lawyer on the risks of fleeing suspects being convicted for nearby abandoned handguns Abandoned handguns can convict nearby fleeing suspects. I know this as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, and Calvin Cardale Townes learned the same, as affirmed this week by the Virginia Court of...

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...