Criminal Defense

Negotiating criminal cases can be like a game of chicken. Variations of the game of chicken include riding one's bicycle towards the opponent, to see if the bike rider or pedestrian will move out of the way first. Another variation is throwing a knife at...

Virginia law provides criminal defendants the magic of the statutory speedy trial rule that focuses on elapsed time, where the federal speedy trial right balances that by looking at the prejudice from any trial delay. Congratulations to Lee Antonio Turner, who this week got his...

As banal and even irritating as the admonition sounded when I was in public school, a person can avoid plenty of aggravation and heartache by always keeping his hands to himself, unless needed for self defense. 

Virginia police and prosecutors love seeking mandatory minimum sentencing in DWI cases for blood/breath alcohol levels allegedly at 0.15 or higher, and for repeat DWI offenses. Mandatory minimum sentencing efforts must always be thoroughly challenged. Thankfully, Virginia DWI law makes clear that mandatory minimum sentencing for...

Police are from the same cloth as all court witnesses, drawn from the general population that ranges from the angelic to the amoral to the sinister. Neither the law nor good sense merits cloaking police with any more presumption of believability nor honesty, than any other...

The temptations to hit and run/ leave the scene of a car collision can be many, including hitting a parked car when no witnesses seem to be present, not wanting to be discovered having committed possible DWI, driving without a valid and license, being in...

Cringe-worthy is each time that a client tells me s/he revealed his or her cellphone ownership or password to the cops. The same goes for every time that clients tell me they admitted ownership or possession of bags, rooms, or other material or places where...

The Fourth of July brings remembrance of war and independence and more; festivities; and police trolling to make arrests for DWI and other alleged crimes, like bear feasting on salmon swimming upstream. You risk much to speak with police and to consent to searches.

Judges and jurors must know that police are not immune from lying. Consider Michael Picard's plight. State trooper(s) from my natal state of Connecticut in September 2015 told Picard he was unlawfully filming them. Picard insisted he had the legal right to film them while...

On June 23, 2017, the Supreme Court expanded upon Padilla, by confirming that it is ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment for a criminal lawyer to misadvise his or her client that a particular conviction or sentence will not carry adverse immigration consequences. Jae...