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Marijuana decriminalization in Virginia – Fairfax criminal lawyer weighs in
Marijuana decriminalization and legalization are near and dear to my heart both as a Fairfax criminal lawyer and as a civil libertarian. The sky does not fall with marijuana decriminalization
You may always decline being sprayed in court with proverbial prune juice and diarrhea
Each day in court is filled with experiences from fragrant flowers to fetid feces. You may always decline being sprayed with proverbial prune juice and diarrhea. Some people absolutely adore prunes, whether dried, stewed, or as juice. (Prunes revolt me. I am so prejudiced against...
Beware throwing that punch if you do not want a manslaughter conviction
As banal and even irritating as the admonition sounded when I was in public school, a person can avoid plenty of aggravation and heartache by always keeping his hands to himself, unless needed for self defense.
Motivations for your potential criminal defense lawyer to do such work
What motivates your potential criminal defense lawyer to do the work s/he does? Being a former prosecutor does not answer whether the lawyer has the drive to do criminal defense work, nor does such experience preclude the lawyer from being great in criminal defense. Coming...
A defense objection bars amending a Virginia charging document to change the character of the alleged offense
A conviction cannot be obtained without a charging document that sufficiently puts the defendant on notice of the crime with which s/he is being accused. Raja v. Virginia, 40 Va.App. 710 (2003). The Virginia charging document for misdemeanors in District Court will be a warrant...
Virginia malicious wounding- Non-consensual tattooing is disfigurement
Alexander Michael Edwards in 2016 was convicted in Campbell County, Virginia, Circuit Court for malicious wounding for the non-consensual tattooing of two minors, and for conspiring to murder them to avoid their testimony against him at trial. The elements of malicious wounding under the Virginia...
Virginia criminal defense – Three hour delay to arrest does not amount to stale probable cause
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution limits police authority to stop, seize, and search people and their property. Sadly, the United States Supreme Court over the decades has limited the strength of the Fourth Amendment in numerous ways, including the horrendous Terry v....
Virginia DWI defense – A refusal conviction is not available for DWI activity on a non-highway
A Virginia DWI arrestee has a tough decision between agreeing to submit to a breath or blood alcohol test, thereby making the police officer's and prosecutor's job easier to obtain a DWI conviction for a proven breath or blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or...
Criminal defense – Exclusionary rule does not apply to finding contraband with un-Mirandized voluntary admissions
In 2004, the United States Supreme Court bitterly divided 5-4 (with a plurality of three justices and a concurrence of two more justices) in declining to apply the Exclusionary Rule to evidence obtained by police through voluntary but un-Mirandized admissions about the location of contraband....
Police outrageous conduct — An elusive defense for criminal defendants
Do we as a society want to tolerate police engaging in oral sex and sexual intercourse with prostitutes in order to nab them, smoking crack with addicts to arrest them, and busting heads of rival gangs to arrest members of gangs to which the police...