Virginia sentencing
Virginia sentencing must only be by jury at a defendant’s asking- Speak out
Virginia sentencing should not be by underinformed jurors, let alone by jurors at all, says Fairfax criminal lawyer Virginia sentencing starts with a jury recommendation if the jury convicted. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that Virginia is one of only two states in...
County jail pandemic-related updates from Fairfax criminal defense lawyer
County jail changes are happening in Fairfax in response to and during the pandemic. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that during Covid-19 the county jail rejects delayed jail service commencement, rejects having inmates serve multiday sentence on successive weekends (with weekends being...
Revoking Virginia probation – Fairfax criminal lawyer on judicial discretion
Revoking probation is risked by Virginia probationers when the judge has reasonable cause to do so. Va. Code § 19.2-306; Whitehead v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 105, 677 S.E.2d 265 (2009), modified, 684 S.E.2d 577 (2009). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I make clear to my...
Virginia criminal defense – Beware dealing with probation agents
Being convicted of a crime is no picnic. When a probation agent is involved, the picnic can seem to gather even more red ants. Talk about potential and actual sentencing with criminal defendants often focuses so much on the length of active jail time --...