witnesses
Exploiting adverse witness absence- Fairfax criminal lawyer speaks
Exploiting the absence of essential prosecution witnesses is essenital for the accused. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such absence does not always mean victory, because sometimes the witness shows up after all, sometimes the prosecutor finds a workable alternative witness or peace...
Difficult factfinders- Fairfax criminal lawyer comments
Difficult factfinder and other challenging litigation situations abound with criminal defense, whether from harsh laws, prosecution-friendly procedures and evidentiary rules, biased jurors, judges who do not give the defense enough time to prepare and present their case, deaf-acting prosecutors, or police acting irritated when Virginia...
Cross exam in Virginia trials addressed by Fairfax criminal lawyer
Cross exam is a vital part of Virginia criminal trial persuasion. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have experienced and seen the critical difference between simply participating in trial advocacy law school classes and continuing legal education programs, and actually doing effective cross in the...
Masked justice must not compromise justice says Fairfax criminal lawyer
Masked people abound as Covid-19 continues without a care, moving from host to host, slowing here and surging there. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that coronavirus must not be permitted to water down justice. For Due Process and the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause...
Jeopardy Attaches Once a Witness is Sworn Confirms a Fairfax Judge
Jeopardy is among the essential avenues for criminal defense lawyers to consider. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that prosecutors might have the temptation to dismiss a case mid-trial when they see their chances of victory slip, but that such action precludes later renewing...
Immunity and the Fifth Amendment – Fairfax Criminal Lawyer
Immunity law needs to be considered by any trial witness wishing to assert the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have experienced several case dismissals for assault cases where the complaining witness hires a lawyer who tells the prosecutor...
Police are from the same cloth as all court witnesses
Police are from the same cloth as all court witnesses, drawn from the general population that ranges from the angelic to the amoral to the sinister. Neither the law nor good sense merits cloaking police with any more presumption of believability nor honesty, than any other...
When Prosecutors and Police Interfere with Defense Efforts to Speak with Prosecution Witnesses
Prosecutors and police are here to serve the public, and not the other way around. Too many of them forget that. Power corrupts too many people. Criminal defendants are members of the public, as are their lawyers. Prosecutors and police should tread carefully to ever...
Prosecutor to his witness: “That is defendant’s lawyer. You do NOT have to talk with him”
The lawyers ethics rules and governing law generally prohibit lawyers, including prosecutors, from advising or encouraging non-party witnesses from talking with opposing lawyers. Just in case anyone was going to call me paranoid about my view that too many prosecutors and police do just that,...