Drugs

Frisking without reasonable articulable suspicion is only allowed in very narrow circumstances. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know it is essential to challenge such searches tooth and nail. Unfortunately (but at least in an unpublished opinion, that therefore is not binding), a 2-1...

Overdosing (ODing) is an irreplaceable element of avoiding a Virginia drug possession conviction under the Commonwealth's good samaritan law. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that the Virginia Court of Appeals refuses to water down the statutory OD definition means "a life-threatening condition...

Fairfax gun prosecutions can get aggressive. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that self styled progressive prosecutors -- including in my county where Steve Descano is the elected commonwealth's attorney -- may often be better for criminal defendants' interests than those geared towards monolithic...

Plain sight is the delight of police and the bane of a criminal suspect. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I was not surprised to read that Joseph Blake Widgeon's lost his challenge to his car search that followed a law enforcement officer's (LEO's) seeing an...

Texts (TXTS) about actual or potential drug deals too often litter the seized cellphones of suspected drug dealers. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I too often see cellphone extractions of my alleged drug dealing clients that have incriminating incoming and outgoing drug transaction communications out...

Drug dogs (DDs) run rampant with police departments / law enforcement officer (LEO) departments, sniffing for drugs, explosives and other evidence. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that a dozen years ago, the federal Supreme Court by a 5-4 decision found that the Constitution's...

Blurts run amok with too many people stopped by police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I shook my head in my hand as I read about this blurt from now-convicted Virginia drug and gun defendant David Witcher, who went down at his non-jury trial: “'I...

Drug running [DR] can be proven by your online activities, and all the more so when you admit to your connection to those activities. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am amazed at how often Virginia criminal defendants bring themselves closer to an arrest, prosecution,...

Fairfax drug court (FDC): Is it hype more than help or the reverse? As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that it is better to have one's criminal prosecution dismissed than convicted, but also know that it is more desireble to have an outright prosecution...

Fairfax Veterans Treatment Docket (FVTD)- Is it worth your while? As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that this is not an option in every Virginia County. What does this docket entail? First, several years ago this aspect of the Fairfax courthouse got spearheaded partly...