Drugs

Partying this July 4 weekend means that police / law enforcement officers (LEOs) will be out in swarms, looking to investigate and arrest people for suspected driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (DUI / DWI), assault, and drug possession, like bear awaiting salmon...

Virginia probation revocation (VPR) proceedings can be very stressful on defendants. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that 2021 brought a great statutory change that limits penalties for alleged "technical" probation violations, versus new convictions that cause a probation violation. Virginia Code § 19.2-306.1 However, if...

Drug proximity can be risky, unless possessed lawfully by prescription or as over the counter products. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police do not hesitate to arrest everyone near contolled substances, and to let the criminal defendants aregue why they are not...

Search arguments are needed when your Virginia prosecution is based on the alleged discovery of controlled substances or other alleged contraband. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, i know it is important that if you lose your evidence suppression motion under the foregoing circumstances, to talk...

Pretextual inventory searches of police-stopped automobiles -- where the real police motive is to conduct an unlawful search -- are inevitably going to take place in this climate where appellate court caselaw allows police to stop a motor vehicle for a moving violation, where the...

Cocaine convictions and all other convictions often come about only because the suspect / Virginia criminal defendant did not assert their Constitutional right to silence under the Fifth Amendment. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I cheer when defendants assert that right, and often bury my...

A probation conviction (PC) can happen with a dismissed prosecution, if a new criminal law violation is still proven. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I was disappointed to see a Virginia Court of Appeals opinion (thankfully unpublished, so not binding on any court, but which...

Firearm drug defense goes against two Virginia statutory monstrosities. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer I am constantly working to avoid the harsh collateral consequences and sentences that can follow from a drug conviction, a firearm / handgun / pistol / weapon conviction, or from a...

Missing link arguments can be made in a drug possession or drug trafficking prosecution to allege that the substance tested by a Virginia state chemist cannot be sufficiently proven to be the same substance that was originally seized by law enforcement. As a Fairfax criminal...

Closeness to contraband is the last thing you want. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the Virginia appellate courts will not have bleeding hearts for your protests if police find illegal drugs or other contraband near you after you have fled from the...