Search

Transcending and reversing obstacles is a big part of successful criminal defense in Virginia, which has among the harshest criminal justice systems. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that criminal defendants are presumed innocent under the Bill of Rights. Some are in fact innocent,...

Assaulting police in Virginia is a Class 6 felony that gets a mandatory minimum of six months in jail and up to five years in prison. Va. Code § 18.2-57(C). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I wholeheartedly support eliminating mandatory minimum jail for assault on law enforcement,...

Coaching has perhaps become an overused phrase by those offering that category of professional services. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I view lawyer counseling not as Chris Farley's cracking us up as the man in the van down by the river. Instead, I know that...

Succeeding in a criminal trial can take place at several stages. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that those possible stages are moving to dismiss the prosecution for failure to articulate a cognizable crime, for a defect in the charging document, for failure to...

Keeping focus on victory helps make the naysayers, hecklers and vicious folks disappear from sight and sound. One day a rather new Fairfax, Virginia prosecutor motioned me into the courtroom antechamber while we awaited our DUI trial to be called, so I thought he was either...

Minneapolis former cop Derek Chauvin -- who kneed George Floyd's neck until he died -- is not a mere abberation. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police abuse runs too rampant, making this George Floyd tragedy at once hearbreaking, despicable, and unfortunately not...

Diffusing tense situations can take substantial self control when feeling that the other person has committed a major trespass. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know the persuasive and advocacy power of dissipating tension and never escalating it. Much happens in criminal court that...

Maintain vigilance with prosecutors and police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the necessity of such an approach. When Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong were photographed heartily laughing with each other at their first meeting, they were at all times maintaining their calculation, cunning,...

Jury trials happen so infrequently as a percentage of criminal prosecutions in Northern Virginia that it is all the more important to assure that one's criminal defense and DUI lawyer has sufficient jury trial experience. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have tried dozens of...

Walking on the judge's path in working to persuade the bench can be very effective in advocating for a criminal defendant or any other litigant. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I have benefitted greatly from this approach. I have blogged many times about dealing with...