criminal defendants
Trial lawyers — good ones — are what VA criminal defendants need
Trial lawyers -- good ones -- are essential for Virginia criminal and DUI defendants, not only in the event that settlement negotiations do not go your way, but also as the needed threat to persuade prosecutors to come as close as possible to your preferred...
Criminal defense persuasion through moving in the right direction & mood
Criminal defense persuasion is not about long, dry, and boring orations, but to adjusting presentation and arguments to the audience's preference for getting to the point, non-shoddy presentation, not wasting its time, and recognizing that different people veer towards processing information in visual, auditory or...
Serving clients is essential in criminal defense – Fairfax criminal lawyer
Serving clients is essential in criminal defense. That is what my work as a Fairfax criminal lawyer is all about. This is what I underline to my staff when I interview and hire them, in this world of unlimited telemarketers and upsellers, too many of...
Whether criminal defendants will throw their lawyers under the bus and other tales
Early in my criminal defense career, two different public defender lawyers who were much more experienced than I at the time opined that (1) many of our convicted felony clients are seriously mentally ill and (2) many of our clients will not hesitate to do...
Human potential is extraordinary in Virginia court and beyond
My Virginia criminal defense work is about harmonizing and reversing difficult situations and liberating my clients, from their charges. from their risks, and from their potential and actual incarceration. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I repeatedly experience the great things that can happen from recognizing...
Beware having criminal defense clients testify
A testifying criminal defendant is on the witness stand only to answer the posed questions and tell the truth. Certainly, the criminal defense lawyer is obligated fully to prepare his or her client to testify
In Virginia, a Party to a Criminal Action May Not Be Issued a Records Subpoena
In Virginia, a party to a criminal action may not be issued a subpoena duces tecum, ordering the production of records or other tangible items.
Police shortcuts and police willful ignorance contribute to reasonable doubt
When police fall short of their obligations, their failures must not be shifted towards and into the victimization of criminal suspects and criminal defendants. To do otherwise will turn the Bill of Rights into more of a farce than they already have been turned into...
Be ready for a full criminal defense battle, particularly because too many police, prosecutors and judges are hostile to criminal defendants
Those seeking convictions will love nothing better than a complacent criminal defense lawyer and criminal defendant. Complacency has no proper role in criminal defense. The battle lines are drawn at the moment the criminal defendant is charged with a crime, and from there the battle...
Rampantly insufficient guilty/no contest plea colloquys in Virginia General District Courts
Criminal defendants live with the damage from convictions their entire lives. They should be entitled to a few extra moments to better assure that they are entering guilty and no contest pleas knowingly and voluntarily.