Partying on July 4 weekend- Fairfax criminal lawyer on making this your independence day from arrests and convictions

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 bears awaiting salmon spawning upstream. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I like seeing people having lawful fun without the hassle, heartache, heartburn, and expense of an arrest or prosecution to put a damper on one’s merrymaking. The best time to read this article is right now, before any alcohol or peer pressure puts a damper on your judgment about the importance of not driving within many hours of consuming alcohol, walking away from possible physical fights, and using haiku near-silence rather than boisterousness when someone ticks you off.

Do the police have the right to fish for violations of the Virginia criminal law when one is partying or engaged in other activities?

The Virginia Supreme Court and federal Supreme Court give LEO wide latitude to fish for Virginia criminal lawyer violations. They are not permitted to racially profile, but have broad-based fishing trip authority. Worse, if you are in a moving motor vehicle, a police officer is permitted to stop your car for reasonable suspicion of committing even a non-jailable traffic infraction, even when the purpose of the stop is to see whether the police officer is able to find evidence of criminal activity afoot. Whren v. U.S., 517 US 806 (1996). If a police encounter with you has a good chance of yielding an arrest for DWI, drug possession, or otherwise, why put yourself in those crosshairs in the first place? To reduce your risks of a Virginia DUI arrest and conviction, plan in advance for a designated driver, an Uber / Lyft / taxicab ride (and make sure your cellphone is charged and your payment method on your Uber app is up to date), and a hotel if needed. For drugs, I cannot tell you how to avoid illegal drugs being found. I can say that the more in the open you are with any drug activity, the more likely you are to get caught and to be hauled into court. Be responsible with your partying.

Must I submit to questioning by the Virginia police, searches, and field sobriety testing? Read this now, before you start partying

Repeat after me before you next go partying: “I am not talking.” “I want a lawyer.” “No thank you to any searches.” Repeat these phrases often and out loud as your dress rehearsal to when you encounter the police. The Constitution’s Fifth and Sixth Amendments guarantee your right to remain silent with LEOs and to not have your silence held against you in court. (Matters get more nuanced when you are at risk of being detained for not providing information that would be on your driver’s license (for non-traffic violation charges) or at risk of not being released by a judicial authority for not providing your biographical information (of course, non-citizens need to beware the risks of revealing their immigration status).) The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment permits you to refuse police searches and to refuse to accommodate them with searches. (However, if a search warrant requires you to submit to a blood test, or to give up your cellphone/laptop password, you’re not assisting with either, which can bring on firm consequences.) When asserting your right to decline searches, you do not want any of that to be physical, which might risk seeing an obstruction of justice or assault on police prosecution being thrown into the mix.

Must Virginia police read me my Miranda rights?

The federal and Virginia Supreme Courts have constructed a twilight zone during an initial police investigation whereby a police officer usually does not need to advise you of your Miranda right to remain silent and to decline answering LEO questions without a lawyer’s presence (and even your lawyer’s presence does not change your prerogative to exercise your right to remain silent.) Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984); Harris v. Virginia, 27 Va.App. 554 (1998).

Is the Virginia criminal law simply a killjoy?

Partying is supposed to be a part of life (with people having different ways of doing so). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that you don’t need to let the police and the criminal law be a killjoy to that. This article marks the beginning of your roadmap to having fun without ending up in a cooling tank or facing a court notice for a Virginia criminal trial date. If your efforts to avoid such killjoys backfire, I am here to pursue your best possible defense against Virginia DUI, felony, and misdemeanor prosecutions.

Going to your Virginia criminal trial date without a qualified lawyer makes your acting as your own lawyer like having a fool for a client. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz helps lift the burden of your pending Virginia felony, misdemeanor, or DUI prosecution from your shoulders, to let you get on with your life as Jon Katz does the heavy lifting for you while working closely with you as a united front. The start of your great Virginia criminal defense begins when you call Jon’s staff for your free initial strictly confidential consultation about your court-pending prosecution. Usually Jon can visit with you within a business day of your contacting us at 703-383-1100, info@BeatTheProsecution.com and (text) 571-406-7268.