Criminal Defense

A January 19, 2017, opinion from the federal Fourth Circuit provides important insight into the criminal liability of corporate executives, and the so-called "two-inference" jury instruction. United States v. Blankenship

Criminal defendants are presumed innocent, so juries generally cannot be commanded to presume guilt from a set of circumstances and shift to the defendant the obligation to rebut that presumption. On the other hand, Virginia law does not prohibit trial judges from instructing juries on...

President Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's (Born Bradley Manning) prison sentence from thirty-five years to seven years. Yes, prosecutors from his administration pushed for Manning's original sentence, but at least President Obama has tempered that with this commutation. Of course this commutation has raised the...

Dylann Roof represented himself at his federal capital sentencing trial phase. He put forth no effort to prevent a death sentence, which helps explain how the jury quickly reached a death sentence verdict (within three hours of deliberation) at the sentencing phase The trial judge...

Settlement negotiations are an essential part of most criminal defense work, whether the negotiations seek an outright dismissal, continuance for possible dismissal with or without dismissal conditions, or any other number of resolutions right up to convictions involving amended or dropped charges and/or agreements as...

Those opposed to a robust criminal defense can protest all they want about defendant's getting off on technicalities. I reply that the Bill of Rights is not a technicality, nor are procedural rights that are enshrined in statutes. Criminal defendants will be happy to win...

Soldiers and street fighters battle without referees nor the expectation of referees' presence. They fight in the law of the jungle. As we approach four years of the buffoon-elect in chief's White House tenure, I have low overall expectations of Trump's upcoming nominees to...

It is easy to find ourselves challenged to succumb to automatic pilot mode during the day, constantly moving, moving, moving. Criminal defense lawyers constantly prepare for battle victory. Judges tell us when to come to court and when to start our trial. Clients merit timely...

Virulently and violently racist Dylann Roof hit the jackpot by getting David Bruck assigned as the lead trial lawyer in his federal hate crime/South Carolina church massacre trial. Roof has squandered that away by reducing Mr. Bruck to standby counsel during the capital sentencing trial...

Richard Arthur Schmidt faced quite the reversal of fortune this week in the Fourth Circuit, which overturned the trial court's reversal of his conviction on a guilty plea for traveling in foreign commerce and having sex with minor boy(s). United States v. Schmidt, ___ F....