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Richard Arthur Schmidt faced quite the reversal of fortune this week in the Fourth Circuit, which overturned the trial court's reversal of his conviction on a guilty plea for traveling in foreign commerce and having sex with minor boy(s). United States v. Schmidt, ___ F....

Many prosecutors talk tough in the courtroom hallway or on the phone, but deliver seemingly lackluster, cookbook, tepid or even timid performance at trial or at hearings. The strength or weakness of an opponent' performance is a distraction

In Virginia, as but a for instance, it is common for many police officers to hesitate to talk with defense lawyers about the evidence rather than referring them to the designated prosecutor to obtain information.

Police do not only focus on identifying and stopping criminal activity, but also on encouraging people to commit criminal activity and then arresting them. We see the latter activity happen with undercover police who ask people to arrange drug deals, rob non-existent drug stash houses,...

Incarceration for those convicted of certain sex offenses does not automatically end at the expiration of the prison sentence. The law governing federal proceedings, Virginia, and other states enables the respective governments to seek continued incarceration of such convicts under so-called "civil commitment" laws.

Some judges seem to take delight in trying to dispirit lawyers. Others do unintentional things that dispirit lawyers. The right lawyer is hard to dispirit. Being dispirited interferes with powerful battle.

If I keep distant from a client, I do not fully know my client. If I do not fully know my client, I cannot fully and persuasively convey to myself, the jury, the judge and the prosecutor who my client really is.

People so often are busy playing their roles that they hesitate to shed those roles to relate soul to soul. Just about everyone likely yearns to find people with whom to relate soul to soul, but is not ready to bare their soul to just...

If the trial lawyer has done his or her job well enough, at the end of the trial, not only will s/he win, but will leave the jury and judge wanting to hear the lawyer talk even more, rather than rushing to their cellphones to...

If the prosecutor comes to court with a smirking attitude, the defense lawyer does not need to do anything to wipe the smirk off the prosecutor's face other than doing the criminal defense lawyer's job, keeping his eyes on the prize.