Search arguments are essential when the prosecution is based on police seizure of alleged contraband, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

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 with your attorney about whether any guilty plea should be conditioned on your right still to appeal any such suppression hearing loss, based on Virginia Code’s conditional guilty plea provision, which requires the agreement of all parties and the judge to agree to proceed in that fashion: “With the approval of the court and the consent of the Commonwealth, a defendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty in a misdemeanor or felony case in circuit court, reserving the right, on appeal from the judgment, to a review of the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion. If the defendant prevails on appeal, he shall be allowed to withdraw his plea.” Virginia Code § 19.2-254.

Search arguments need to pursue that nobody is permitted to grant law enforcement officers (LEO) permission to search a container clearly exclusively possessed by someone else

The foregoing rule of Fourth Amendment search and seizure law is how Jackie Lavonne Myers’s lawyer’s search arguments obtained a reversal of her conviction (obtained through the foregoing type of conditional guilty plea) for possession of methamphetamine found in her purse after a lawful traffic stop where the driver consented to a police search of his car. Myers v. Commonwealth of Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (2024): “Here, the [male] driver had no actual authority over the purse. He did not own or control it… This does not end our inquiry, however, because the search could still be considered reasonable if the driver had apparent authority to consent to the search of Myers’s purse. As in Glenn, the purse was ‘located in a place open to all occupants’ when it was found on the floorboard of the car. Glenn, 275 Va. at 134. But unlike the defendant’s backpack in Glenn, Myers’s purse bore a clear ‘indic[ation] of ownership.’ Id. at 133. The driver was male, and dashboard camera footage confirms that the item was a woman’s purse. See also id. at 136 n.3 (opining that the search of a woman’s purse pursuant to the consent given by a man would not be reasonable). Moreover, the purse was located on the back seat floorboard, close to the female passenger, and not the male driver, who did not claim ownership of the purse, further suggesting that the purse belonged to Myers and not the driver. Thus, we conclude that it was not objectively reasonable for Trooper Greene to assume the driver’s consent encompassed Myers’s purse.”  Myers. Deeply concerning here, then, is that a harmfully different outcome against Myers would probably have resulted had the driver been a female.

Ask your potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer their strength with arguing Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues in writing and orally

Constitutional search and seizure appellate court caselaw can get very complex and case specific. Many controlled substance / drug and other contraband prosecutions rise and fall on search arguments that the police seizure of the alleged contraband was unlawful. Before hiring your lawyer to defend against such a prosecution, ask about the lawyer’s ability, interest and experience making such arguments in writing (which must precede a suppression hearing) and argument (and evidence presentation) at a suppression hearing. If that lawyer hesitates, gets irritated at, or avoids your diplomatically-answered question to that effect, watch out.

How committed is your potential Virginia drug lawyer to ending the war on drugs?

The foregoing question is very important. If your potential Virginia drug lawyer is a former prosecutor, it is completely legitimate to ask why that lawyer chose to be a prosecutor, what their level of discomfort (if any) was with prosecuting drug cases, why they switched to criminal defense, and whether they like prosecuting or defending drug cases more. Hogwash to the idea that a great lawyer can set aside their views and feelings and argue any side just as effectively for search arguments or any other matter. When your lawyer is driven with venom or other passion to your side and cause, that can provide the needed oomph to make the difference between victory or not. A deep-seated aversion to the drug wars drove Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz to switch to criminal defense from a successful corporate law firm. Jon Katz has never prosecuted and never will. To this day, Jon knows he is on the side of the angels with drug defense and all criminal defense work, and that feeds his energy and drive in relentlessly pursuing your best defense in criminal court.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz has successfully defended hundreds of drug defendants and thousands of criminal defendants generally. Jon devotes his full time, attention and caring to each client. Usually Jon can meet with you within a business day of your contacting us, for your free in-person strictly confidential initial consultation about your court-pending prosecution. Contact Jon Katz and his staff at 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com and (text) 571-406-2768.