jury

Jury trials usually are not associated with probation violation nor sentencing proceedings. At the same time, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer I know that criminal defendants have a right to a jury to determine whether facts exist beyond a reasonable doubt to impose mandatory minimum...

Pushing back against DUI prosecutions needs to be the default for any Virginia criminal defendant charged with such an offense. As a Virginia DUI attorney, I say never give up and never give in with this and all other criminal prosecutions.

Persuading is an essential art in criminal defense. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the courthouse battle can include clients, opposing witnesses, prosecutors and judges who are stressed, angry or even off their rocker (hopefully only as to the first three). Criminal defense...

As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know the risks of appealing a District Court misdemeanor conviction to the Circuit Court. First, a criminal defendant's District Court sentence does not cap the maximum possible sentence that might be received if convicted on appeal. Second, if a...

As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know the power of the option to appeal a District Court misdemeanor criminal or DUI conviction to the Circuit Court. Numerous of my appeals have turned District Court convictions into Circuit Court acquittals, case dismissals, or more favorable settlement...

Contested sentencing in Virginia is a gamble. Unless the criminal defendant and prosecutor enter a plea deal involving an agreed sentence that binds the judge, the only sentencing guarantee is that the judge is prohibited from sentencing beyond the statutory maximum.

Virginia law provides criminal defendants the magic of the statutory speedy trial rule that focuses on elapsed time, where the federal speedy trial right balances that by looking at the prejudice from any trial delay. Congratulations to Lee Antonio Turner, who this week got his...

Judges and jurors must know that police are not immune from lying. Consider Michael Picard's plight. State trooper(s) from my natal state of Connecticut in September 2015 told Picard he was unlawfully filming them. Picard insisted he had the legal right to film them while...

In Bravo-Fernandez v. U.S., ___ U.S. ___ (Nov. 29, 2016), the jury returned inconsistent verdicts of conviction and acquittal under separate counts of the same statute. Bravo-Fernandez got his conviction overturned on appeal due to erroneous jury instructions, therefor enabling a retrial.