Posted on January 10, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent opinion from a Virginia court, the defendant’s appeal in her assault and battery case was denied. The defendant was originally found guilty of acting violently towards a police officer when the officer came to investigate an emergency call at the defendant’s place of residence. On appeal, the defendant argued the officer was trespassing on her property and that it was thus her right to try and push him out of the home. The court disagreed, finding the defendant’s actions unreasonable and affirming her guilty verdict.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, an officer in Virginia was dispatched to the defendant’s home one evening after 10:00 pm. At the time, the officer was not sure why the emergency call had been placed or what exactly was happening in the defendant’s place of residence. When the officer arrived, he found the defendant yelling at a man who was standing on the front porch. The man explained to the police officer that he lived at the home and wanted to get his belongings from inside. The defendant yelled towards the officer that the man had acted physically violent and that he was not welcome in her home.

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 Posted on December 24, 2021 in Criminal Defense

The Commonwealth of Virginia is known for having some of the strictest DWI and DUI laws in the United States. With strict policies already in place, law enforcement will be even stricter during the holiday season as they pull over potentially impaired drivers. The end of the year is a busy time for police officers, and they will be monitoring the roads even more closely as Christmas and New Year’s approach.

Now through the end of the year, 116 different Virginia law enforcement agencies will be patrolling the streets to keep drunk drivers off the road. These agencies are part of Governor Northam’s push to keep drunk driving to a minimum and to keep travelers safe over the holidays. Mindful of the fact that 272 Virginians died in car crashes involving alcohol in 2020, officers will be keen to pull over individuals that they even slightly suspect might driving be under the influence.

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 Posted on December 10, 2021 in Criminal Defense

In a recent opinion coming out of a Virginia court, the higher court disagreed with the lower court’s decision to grant a defendant bond. The lower court had previously decided that, since the defendant had been incarcerated for a long time, he should be allowed to leave prison before his trial was heard. The higher court disagreed, saying that this sole factor of time spent incarcerated was not enough reason to let the defendant out of prison earlier than originally planned.

The Facts of the Case

In September 2019, the defendant was charged, arrested, and incarcerated because of possession of a firearm after having been previously convicted of a violent felony. The defendant was first told to show up in court in October 2019; he appeared for his first hearing, and then waited for his case to be heard by the circuit court in Virginia. The defendant was called into court again in January 2020 for a bail hearing, but he requested that his hearing be postponed so that he could retrieve new counsel. Over time, the defendant kept requesting that his hearing be postponed, and his case was not heard in court until April 2021 as a result.

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 Posted on December 01, 2021 in Criminal Defense

If you have been a longtime driver on Virginia highways, it’s possible that you have seen what law enforcement refers to as a checkpoint. These checkpoints allow officers to stop cars and see if drivers have been drinking or violating any other traffic law. Checkpoints greatly increase the number of arrests made on the roads in Virginia, and there are certain laws about what police officers can and cannot do when conducting stops in this particular way. If you are stopped at a DUI checkpoint, it is crucial that you know your rights.

General Guidelines for DUI Checkpoints

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. On the road, this means that a police officer cannot unreasonably search your car or unreasonably seize personal items from your car. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that DUI checkpoints are generally legal; however, there are restrictions on the setup and implementation of these checkpoints.

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 Posted on December 01, 2021 in Criminal Defense

The elements required to convict a defendant of a sexual offense in Virginia vary greatly based upon several factors. The age of this victim, the age of the alleged perpetrator, the degree of force used to perpetrate an assault, and the nature of an assault each factor into a determination of what crime, if any, a defendant can be charged and convicted of. The Virginia Court of Appeals recently heard an appeal by a defendant who challenged his aggravated sexual battery conviction based upon allegations that he molested a fourteen-year-old girl who was sleeping at her home.

The defendant in the recently decided appeal was charged with aggravated sexual battery after he allegedly touched the genitals of the cousin of someone he was dating who lived in their home. According to the facts discussed in the appellate opinion, the victim, who was fourteen years old at the time of the assault, had been sleeping on the couch in her home when she awoke to the defendant touching her genitals. After the victim notified other adults of what happened and authorities were notified, the defendant was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual battery.

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 Posted on November 24, 2021 in Criminal Defense

Tips given to law enforcement officers by confidential informants are often used to establish reasonable suspicion for a detention or probable cause for a search or arrest. State and federal constitutional protections still play a role in determining the legality of police interactions with the public, even when reliable tips from informants are involved. The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently ruled in favor of the state after a defendant challenged the legality of his detention based on a tip from a confidential informant that he was involved in commercial drug activity.

In the recently decided case, the defendant was arrested and charged with dealing drugs after police were notified of his activity by a confidential informant. Based on the tip from the informant that a man matching the description of the defendant was selling drugs on the street, detectives stopped the defendant for questioning. The defendant was handcuffed and made to wait with the police when a canine drug detection unit arrived. After the canine signaled to police that the man was in possession of narcotics, a search was performed, and police found drugs on him.

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 Posted on November 18, 2021 in Criminal Defense

In a recent drug case in Virginia, the court denied the defendant’s appeal for possession of heroin. Originally, the defendant had been found guilty after overdosing on drugs in his hotel room. On appeal, the defendant argued that the officer who found the drugs violated his right to privacy by unlawfully searching through his nightstand. Additionally, he argued that because of recent changes to Virginia law, he should not be convicted if officers only found the drugs while they were providing emergency medical care. The court disagreed, ultimately denying the defendant’s appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, an officer was dispatched to a motel room in Virginia in response to an anonymous caller claiming they saw an unresponsive male in the room. When the officer arrived, she announced her presence and entered the room, finding the defendant on the floor. He was unconscious, pale, sweating, and breathing heavily. The officer believed the defendant to be suffering from a drug overdose, so she called emergency medics, who quickly arrived and began treating the defendant. In the meantime, the officer began searching the hotel room for evidence of drug use.

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 Posted on November 10, 2021 in Criminal Defense

Federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to try any alleged crime committed in the United States. For a United States District Court to entertain criminal charges against a defendant, there must be a valid statutory or constitutional basis for the federal court to exercise jurisdiction over the charge. Because of these restrictions on federal jurisdiction, laws have been creatively passed by the U.S. Congress to expand federal jurisdiction over alleged criminal conduct. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2341–2353, colloquially known as the Hobbs Act, is one such statute.

The Hobbs Act allows federal courts to take jurisdiction over crimes of robbery or extortion that disrupt interstate commerce, as the federal government has control over interstate commerce under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. A federal appellate court recently heard a defendant’s appeal of several Hobbes act convictions.

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 Posted on October 31, 2021 in Criminal Defense

Recently, an appellate court in Virginia affirmed a DUI conviction against a defendant who was determined to be the driver at the time of the crash. The court found that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to conclude that the defendant was the driver.

The Facts of the Case

The defendant was driving a car and was involved in a single-car accident that resulted in her co-worker, who was riding in the car at the time, being ejected from the car. A witness observed the crash while at a red light, called 911, and assisted at the scene. Officers arrived at the scene and observed the defendant with glassy eyes, slurred speech, and emitting a strong odor of alcohol. The defendant admitted to drinking alcohol that evening, and after field sobriety tests were conducted on the defendant, she was arrested for DUI. During a hearing, the officer was cross-examined and stated that he could not recall the defendant’s exact answer to his question of whether the defendant was the driver of the vehicle. The officer admitted that it could have been possible that the other officers on the scene had told him that the defendant was the driver of the vehicle, which may have been the reason why his notes did not reflect the fact that he asked the defendant who had been driving.

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 Posted on October 24, 2021 in Criminal Defense

In a recent opinion in a Virginia drug case, the court granted the Commonwealth’s request for a new verdict. Originally, a lower court had suppressed incriminating evidence found in the defendant’s car, maintaining that the evidence should not be used because the officer’s decision to conduct the traffic stop was unjustified. The Commonwealth appealed, pointing to an agreement the defendant had signed a few months prior to the traffic stop in which he waived all rights against unreasonable searches from police officers. The court ultimately saw the agreement as valid, deciding to allow the incriminating evidence to be brought in against the defendant.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was driving in Virginia when an officer stopped him, citing the reason for the stop as a defective brake light. After having stopped the defendant, the officer searched the vehicle and found heroin in the car. Based on this evidence, the defendant was later indicted for possession of a controlled substance.

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