police searches
Attenuation trumps earlier 4th Amendment issues in Fairfax case
Attenuation can trump earlier Fourth Amendment violations. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I read with interest chief Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penny Azcarate's application of such law to deny a Virginia criminal defendant's challenge to a child pornography-yielding search of a computer and cellphone....
Virginia DUI convictions are risked even with your silence & inaction
Virginia DUI convictions are risked even when a DWI suspect declines to answer police questions, refuses law enforcement requests for field sobriety testing, and passes on the cop's offer to blow pretrial into a preliminary breath test (PBT) alcohol-testing machine. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer,...
Drug prosecutions can arise from Virginia curfew laws
Drug prosecutions are widespread in Virginia, and curfews give police easier pickings of criminal suspects. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that various jurisdictions impose curfews, even though curfews seriously harm our civil liberties. The curfews give police a green light to make additional...
Searching when one occupant objects- Fairfax criminal lawyer weighs in
Searching homes is not permitted by police under the Fourth Amendment without a search warrant, consent of a resident, or exigent circumstances. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that one present occupant's objection to such an otherwise consensual search trumps the consent of the...
Criminal defense- The danger of following a police order to hand over contraband
What should a person do when a police officer orders the suspect to hand the cop an item (other than ordering a driver to hand over one's driver's license and registration) or to empty one's pockets? If complied with, that order amounts to a search...