Criminal Defense

When a criminal defendant is charged with multiple criminal counts, s/he might want to try to limit sentencing exposure by presenting a defense that guilt is not possible for more than one continuing offense. Sheng Jie Jin unsuccessfully tried the one continuing offense approach at...

On this Valentine's Day, I recall that the 1995 Trial Lawyers College soon became one big hug fest at times. I did not embrace the idea right away, but have benefited tremendously in life from focusing on the path of love, compassion, generosity, service and...

Every once in awhile, the United States Supreme Court issues a great decision for criminal defendants. For instance, in March 2013, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that police need probable cause to believe the existence of relevant criminal activity before taking a drug-sniffing dog to...

Apparently since the beginning of the Commonwealth of Virginia's birth, the state has had such limited criminal discovery/evidence disclosure rules that trials here for criminal defendants in many ways are trials by fire. Numerous very capable and devoted criminal defense colleagues have doggedly and skilfully...

The drug war is bankrupt. Federal, state and local governments have poured billions of dollars into the drug wars for over five decades, with little more to show for it than America's failed trillion dollar years-long war in Vietnam. Sun Tzu wisely advised against long...

The refrain "I will appeal" is common for unsuccessful criminal litigants. However, in Virginia, those convicted of crimes in Circuit Court generally have no automatic right to appellate review of their cases. Instead, a Virginia criminal defendant must convince the Virginia Court of Appeals or...

Super Bowl Sunday is a time of high energy, merrymaking, drinking beer and other alcohol, chowing down, cheering when one's team wins, and regretting when one's team loses. Getting tipsy on alcohol can be fun, at least when it does not unleash one's demons and...

Donald Trump is facing so much dissent on the streets and in airports, in the courts, and beyond that one wonders whether he will get any rest from dissidents until he reverses course from his xenophobic approach to non-United States citizens and his ill-fated insular,...

The National Rifle Association may have its allies among lawmakers and Republican presidents and governors, but that does not diminish the harsh mandatory minimum prison sentences risked by those convicted for committing certain crimes in conjunction with possessing firearms, and those convicted of possessing firearms...

In 2005, the United States Supreme Court decided 5-4 that it is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to execute those who committed crimes when they were under eighteen years old. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005). Post-Roper, a criminal defendant charged with an otherwise...