Fifth Amendment

Loose tongues are what police love with criminal suspects. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I read with sadness how blabbermouthing with police in 2012  is the only thing that got Ruben Edward Moore convicted of a 1981 murder in a cold case. Moore v. Virginia,...

Coercion by police is among the first things I look for as a Fairfax criminal lawyer pursuing the suppression of my client's statements to law enforcement. In 1986, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a Fifth Amendment or Miranda violation does not take place...

Waiving rights with police is all too common by criminal suspects who do not have attorneys. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that it rarely benefits an unrepresented criminal suspect to relinquish his or her rights to remain silent with the police, to have...

Immunity law needs to be considered by any trial witness wishing to assert the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have experienced several case dismissals for assault cases where the complaining witness hires a lawyer who tells the prosecutor...

Collateral estoppel law generally prevents prosecutors from relitigating facts already established at certain prior criminal court proceedings. Unfortunately, today the Virginia Supreme Court placed strict boundaries on the extent to which criminal defendants can benefit from collateral estoppel relief, which is grounded in the United...

The temptations to hit and run/ leave the scene of a car collision can be many, including hitting a parked car when no witnesses seem to be present, not wanting to be discovered having committed possible DWI, driving without a valid and license, being in...

The Fourth of July brings remembrance of war and independence and more; festivities; and police trolling to make arrests for DWI and other alleged crimes, like bear feasting on salmon swimming upstream. You risk much to speak with police and to consent to searches.

Seizing and searching computers is big business for law enforcement, for such investigations as child pornography, terrorism, and online copyright infringement. At the same time, computer encryption technology continues advancing, to the point that law enforcement cannot always crack such encryption, leading law enforcement to...