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Voluntary intoxication- Fairfax criminal lawyer on its defensive limits

Voluntary intoxication (VI) generally is not available as a defense against a Virginia assault or other prosecution. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that an exception to the foregoing general rule is that: "It has long been settled in Virginia, and elsewhere generally, that...

Expert testimony on mental state – Virginia criminal lawyer on its limits

Expert testimony often is crucial to criminal defendants, as I have seen many times as a Virginia criminal lawyer. Nonetheless, today the Virginia Court of Appeals confirmed that, in criminal trials, expert testimony on diminished mental capacity are limited to insanity defenses. Johnson v. Virginia,...