Clam up about your criminal intent or activities or suffer the consequences, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Clam up about your criminal activities or criminal intent, or be ready for possible prosecutorial backlash. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know people will sometimes speak hyperbolically about threats of violence or other crimes, but doing so can be like lighting a forest fire, which then becomes out of your control. Look no further than Nicholas L. Ortiz for that lesson. Ortiz v. Commonwealth of Virginia, Record No. 0084-24-1 (Va. App. 2025) (unpublished). Ortiz faced a losing appellate battle from the very beginning where, as here, he wagged his tongue to other inmates that he wanted his two previous girlfriends killed to eliminate his risk of conviction in the cases where they were prosecution witnesses. If someone wants their “secrets” to be revealed, all they need to do is to tell them to inmates with pending court cases, plenty of whom will want to parlay that into disclosures to the prosecution to help negotiate their own cases.

Can I win a criminal appeal by asserting that witnesses have lied?

A jury convicted Ortiz of two counts of solicitation to commit murder under Virginia Code § 18.2-29 and two counts of obstruction of justice (for seeking the murder of those two witnesses against him) under in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-460(C). Rather than clam up, Ortiz was caught on tape recording and in police confession with having actually sought murder for hire and taken essential steps in that direction by arranging a down payment for the sought killings by a person who actually was an undercover police officer reached by one of the inmates who heard Ortiz say he wanted the two witnesses killed. (As an aside, the $2000 fee quoted by the police officer posing as a hired killer sounds like such a low number to put a person at risk of decades in jail or longer, as to have been available to warn Ortiz that he was being set up.) Under the foregoing circumstances, he had few appellate arguments other than challenging witness credibility, for which appellate courts usually leave in the hands of the factfinders, which here were Ortiz’s jury.

Beware bothering witnesses in your criminal prosecution- Clam up

Obstruction of justice laws mean that it is wisest for you as a Virginia criminal defendant to avoid exposure to an obstruction of justice prosecution by simply having no direct nor indirect contact with your alleged victim nor prosecution witnesses about your case, other than through your lawyer (if your lawyer correctly concludes that they may make such contact). To clam up is to be wise.

What do I do if I am charged with a damning crime, or any crime at all?

When you are charged with a jailable offense (and in many instances even a non-jailable crime) — whether you have followed the watchword to clam up or not — it is time for you to obtain the best possible lawyer for you. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz has successfully defended thousands of criminal defendants, and pursues your best defense against Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI prosecutions. Call 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com, or (text) 571-406-7268 for your free in-person initial strictly confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending prosecution.