Criminal Defense
Strict Deadlines for Challenging Criminal Convictions
Strict deadlines apply for challenging criminal convictions. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, my heart goes out to the numerous people calling me to seek relief for serious convictions years after the last court action was taken. The relief usually is sought to try to obtain...
Virginia drug defense – Fairfax criminal lawyer on distribution defense
Virginia drug defense involves humorless statutes, sentencing schemes and sentencing guidelines. As a Fairfaxcriminal lawyer, I know that the sentencing risks for a drug conviction multiply when the conviction is not for mere personal drug use, and is instead for selling, distributing, manufacturing, or possessing...
Guilty Pleas in Virginia – Criminal Lawyer on Their Points of No Return
Guilty pleas in Virginia must only be the result of the defense's fully preparing for trial. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that this trial readiness approach to pleading guilty, no contest/nolo contendere, Alford, or facts sufficient to prove guilt (collectively for this article,...
Statutory Rape Defense in Virginia – Fairfax Criminal Lawyer Warns About Age Risks
Statutory rape prosecutions are risked at the Virginia state level whenever an adult engages in sex with a minor, whether or not the defendant knew the minor was a minor. At the federal level, a prosecution for sex trafficking requires that the defendant “knew, or...
Virginia Prostitution Defense – Fairfax Criminal Lawyer on Sex Advertising
Virginia prostitution defense often involves police stings, where alleged Johns/hobbyists are set up to meet with would-be prostitutes/providers who instead are police officers/police hires. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know how much prostitution prosecutions waste limited police resources that could instead
Veterans Day & when to sheathe and unsheathe weapons in criminal court
On past Veterans Days, I have warned against overglorifying the military, and about the human weaknesses and errors that bring war atrocities and other abuses of military power. Today, I will address some better and more humane ways of fighting, both with the military and...
Advocating When Judges Blunder – A Fairfax Criminal Lawyer’s View
Advocating for criminal defendants when judges blunder is part of the job of a criminal defense lawyer. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that many judges will royally blunder in making numerous vital decisions. The humble judges who blunder have better potential for getting...
Sentencing Succeeding with Alternative Narrative
Sentencing succeeding for criminal defendants comes through offering a persuasively alternative narrative to that of the prosecutor. Prosecutors are trained to demonize convicted criminal defendants and to make the sentencing judge averse to having his or her face pasted on the newspapers' front pages
Court victory by defending from within – Fairfax criminal lawyer’s approach
Court victory is never obtained through wishful thinking, stroking a lucky rabbit's foot, nor good looks. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that court victory comes from a lawyer's relying on his or her own ability, wits, human greatness, sweat and toil.
Miranda warnings – Fairfax criminal lawyer on two-step interrogation
As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police would prefer the non-existence of the half-century-old Supreme Court Miranda opinion that requires police to advise in-custody criminal suspects of their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent before non-booking police questioning begins.
