reasonable suspicion
Virginia High Crime Area Night Presence Helps Okay Cop Handgun Patdown
Virginia high crime are presence at nighttime are two factors that might increase your risk of being police-frisked for weapons, now that the Virginia Court of Appeals this week okayed such factors to be considered in evaluating the legality of such a patdown. As a...
Curtilage seizure in DWI investigation addressed by Fairfax DUI lawyer
Curitlage seizures take place when police detain a person on “'the land immediately surrounding and associated with the home.'" Saal v. Virginia, 848 S.E.2d 612 (2020) (quoting Oliver v. U.S.., 466 U.S. 170 (1984). As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that because "the curtilage is 'considered...
Violating a green light leads to DUI arrest – Fairfax criminal lawyer weighs in
Violating a green light by waiting six seconds led to Richard Duane Joyce, Jr.'s traffic stop and subsequent conviction for DUI. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I see the appellate court's affirmance of Joyce's conviction -- Joyce v. Virginia, __ Va. App. __ (April 14,...
Cops May Stop If Car Owner License is Revoked
Cops have extraordinary power in our overly-policed state, that stands in sharp contract to the ideal of our living in a free society in the United States. Instead, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that have too much of a police state, and this...
Hunches do not justify police stops says Fairfax DUI lawyer
Hunches by themselves do not permit police stops of suspects. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that at minimum, the police officer needs reasonable articulable suspicion to stop a suspect. Moreover, Virginia has not yet recognized a community caretaker basis for police to stop...
Dangled Constitutional Rights: Virginia’s Supreme Court affirms drug conviction despite a police stop without a dangling object violation
Virginia's Supreme Court has affirmed a drug conviction resulting from a traffic stop by a police officer misunderstanding the state's law against dangling objects that obstruct the driver's view