Drugs

Leniency offers by cops abound in their efforts to convince criminal defendants to waive their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that criminal defendants and criminal suspects should not communicate with police about their case without the presence...

Search warrants do not automatically preclude successful Fourth Amendment challenges. Today, Ian Christian Carlson happily saw that truism applied to his benefit. Carlson v. Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police generally are barred from investigating for possible criminal activity by going...

Private prisons and private jails abound in the United States, and are popular with many investors. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, my concerns about private prisons include the risk that the prisons will put investors' profit interests above treating inmates right, and about possible limited...

Virginia drug law is tough on defendants. As a Fairfax drug lawyer, I know that merely possessing a Schedule I or II drug is Class 5 felony carrying up to ten years in prison. Marijuana possession remains a misdemeanor jailable up to thirty days, with...

Criminal discovery reform in Virginia finally achieved a breakthrough in 2018, when the commonwealth's Supreme Court directed a mid-2019 substantial discovery expansion for felony criminal defendants. This Virginia discovery reform needs to be seen as but a first step, seeing that it does not cover...

Dirty urines are a risk for any controlled substance user on supervised probation before their court date. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that staying off illegal drugs is easier ordered than followed. Fairfax criminal lawyer warns criminal defendants not to throw in the...

Cocaine is what Ella Fitzgerald gets no kick out of , but in Virginia, a conviction for the mere possession or use of cocaine or any other Schedule I or II drug kicks the defendant with a Class 5 felony offense carrying up to ten...

Repeat drug offenses risk enhanced sentencing, says Virginia criminal lawyer. Repeat drug convictions risk mandatory minimum and enhanced prison sentencing both on the Virginia state and federal court level. As a Virginia criminal attorney, I know that the financial incentives to deal illegal drugs might...

Object to inadmissible jury sentencing evidence, or have the Virginia criminal defendant suffer the consequences. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that in the heat of battle the defendant's lawyer needs nevertheless not to overlook both objecting timely when an objection needs to be...

Drug field testing should not be used to justify pretrial detention nor a conviction, says Fairfax criminal lawyer. Drug field testing is used by police to claim probable cause to search and arrest suspects, and by prosecutors for making pretrial detention/bail/bond arguments, and by Virginia...