Crime Time: With Virginia Defense Attorneys

When  an officer pulls you over and you have had too much to drink or even when you have only had 1 drink, it can be confusing about what you are required to do when it comes to breath testing.  In this episode we dive into whether you have a right to refuse a PBT (preliminary breath test), the breath test at the station/jail (EC/IR II), as well as blood tests.  We also discuss what happens if you...

Have you ever wondered what the difference is in the breath devices used to take breath samples? What about a blood test to determine your alcohol content?  Do you know what you are required to do under Virginia law?  Are these tests mandatory?  Are there any issues with these tests? In this episode we try to get into some of those very issues. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: If you are listening to this podcas...

In this episode we welcome a fellow attorney and friend Brad Marshall.  Brad is an attorney in Manassas, VA.  He was a prosecutor for years and then switched over to being a defense attorney. He still serves as a local prosecutor for a smaller part of the County and he gets to help educate law enforcement during their trainings which is something Brad did a lot of when he was a full time prosecuto...

Leaving your kids unattended can get the ball rolling for all sorts of things you may have never thought about.  You can be charged criminally.  CPS can get involved.  And sometimes your kid can even be injured.  In this episode we focus on parents or those watching children and how life can get in the way sometimes. You are tired, stressed, and/or distracted.  Or your kid is sleeping and you are...

With football season around the corner, tailgates coming, hockey coming, baseball playoffs coming, happy hours back in full swing, college kids back at school, and the holidays coming, we decided the timing was perfect to talk about what happens when you are out in public and have had too much to drink....... This episode is just our way of trying to remind everyone to have a plan when you go out...

When you are a criminal defense attorney and you have always wanted to sit on a jury but are never selected because of what you do, you get excited when you find out a family member got to sit on a jury. Being a criminal defense attorney and having had a father who was law enforcement you also cannot wait to hear about what happens with a jury while a case is going on and what they really do durin...

Amy Jordan is an experienced criminal defense attorney and the Fairfax Defender's Office, their clients, the courts, and the criminal bar are lucky to know her.  If you ever get the chance to check her out during trial...DO IT!  She handles all sorts of cases but right now she is focused mainly on domestic violence, juvenile, and sex offenses.  So we brought her on to talk about sex....crimin...

Being a criminal  defense lawyer is not an easy job.  You care about your clients.  Their lives matter to you ,  You want to help them the best you can.  It can weigh on you for a lot of reasons.   In this episode we were lucky to have a guest who used to do criminal defense.  In fact, he did a lot of court appointed work on very serious cases for those that could not afford an attorney. Joe Theli...

With Anna out on vacation we brought in a sub host to take her place again.  This time we were lucky to have a local attorney who is also a substitute judge "sub" in for Anna.  Tamika Jones handles a mix of criminal and family law and even some civil cases.  She has her own law practice here in Northern Virginia.  Today we got to talk to her about what it is like to be a substitute judge...

So...since we talked movies we had to talk a bit about legal tv shows.  So we brought back Chris Holley and Blake Woloson to sub in for Anna again while she was on vacation.  We talk about our favorite law shows and whether we each prefer law tv or law movies! LEGAL DISCLAIMER: If you are listening to this podcast, thank you!  We sincerely hope you are listening to this podcast for its entertainme...

We thought talking about crime/court movies would make for a good episode.  In this episode we welcomed back Chris Holley and Blake Woloson who subbed in as a co-host for Alberto on past episodes.  They subbed in as co-hosts/guests for Anna who was on vacation.  Our focus was on movies and comparing them to what goes in real courtrooms or cases.  We also warn you ahead of time that if you have not...

Sometimes you just cannot help yourself if you tried.  People get nervous in court and when they talk to the police or are faced with having to get an attorney.  We have all been in court and watched either our clients ("allegedly") or other people's client's tank their chances at a victory in court.  Remember, we always say less is more and SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!  LEGAL DISCLAIM...

So usually WE hosts of the podcast get to ask our guests and each other questions.  This time, our guest Emily Salazar, a soon to be Senior at Highland High School in Fauquier County puts us in the hot seat.  She is interning with one of our hosts Anna Dvorchik's law firm for a bit so we decided to put her to good use asking us questions she had about being an attorney! LEGAL DISCLAIMER: If y...

This is a short and sweet after the July 4th Holiday weekend episode about entrapment!  We get a lot of questions from people about what is entrapment or field allegations from clients that they are only charged due to police entrapment.  So today we tell you what entrapment is and is not in Virginia! LEGAL DISCLAIMER: If you are listening to this podcast, thank you!  We sincerely hope you are lis...

We went big in this episode and had 4 guests on this show from the Fairfax County Mental Health Treatment Docket!  We were lucky that Judge Tina Snee from the Fairfax County General District Court, Michelle Cowherd, the Mental Health Treatment Docket Coordinator, Christian Fernandez one of the Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth Attorneys, and Negin Farahmand Wood, a rock star Fairfax County Pub...

When you hear about abductions you probably think wow, someone was kidnapped.  Someone was held at knifepoint or gun point and not allowed to leave.  But abduction in Virginia has a specific meaning when it comes to bringing a charge against someone.  A recent case came out of the  Virginia Court of Appeals called Brown v Commonwealth which you can read about here  https://www.vacourts.gov/opinion...

When you think about the criminal justice system you may have known someone who got into trouble and had to go to court or maybe you watched something on the news or you saw a movie or tv show related to criminal justice.  Oftentimes people have ideas about what really happens in the criminal justice system. So we decided to throw out some different concepts and say fact or myth!  LEGAL DISCLAIMER...

The Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial ended and the verdict came in last week.  Depp won on all 3 counts and he was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages but the judgment for punitive damages will be capped at $350,000 per Virginia law.  Heard lost 2 out of 3 of her counts and was awarded $2 million dollars in compensatory damages and no punitive damages were...

Do you really have to show your ID when police ask you to give it to them?  As with many attorney responses, the answer is "it depends."  In this episode we welcome a friend and fellow defense attorney Kaveh Noorishad (also known as the "Persian Powerhouse").  We get into a lively discussion while we talk about some local statutes in various counties in Virginia as well as some...

Dave Gambale served in the US Marine Corps and he is the owner of Freedom Bail Bonds which is a company here in Northern Virginia!  We got him to come on our podcast as our guest this week!  We got to ask him questions about how he got started and what he likes about his job.  He shares stories of what it is like to be a bondsman and the issues a company like his can face.  Dave also shares with u...

When a new Court of Appeals case comes out that catches our eye and raises some questions for us, of course we have to do an episode on it!  In this episode Woodson v Commonwealth is on our minds as the Court of Appeals opinion just came out May 2022.  Here is a link to the full opinion if you want to read it.  https://law.justia.com/cases/virginia/court-of-appeals-published/2022/0610-21-2.html Ba...

So.....with the Depp/Heard trial taking a break this week in court due to the judicial conference that posed a conflict, we thought we keep it going with our second episode about our thoughts on what we are seeing in this case.  Just keep in mind that our viewpoints are all different and some of us are following the case more than others.  This is just some friends/fellow attorneys having an infor...

Johnny Depp has been in a ton of our favorite movies.  Amber Heard has also appeared in various movies.  The case they have going on right now in Fairfax is a civil one for defamation.  This is a lot different than the cases we handle in the criminal world.  However, there are some similarities as the issues surrounding the defamation are focused on domestic violence.  In this episode we decided t...

The opioid crisis in Fairfax and statewide and throughout the United States is impacting so many people.  Fairfax County is making a huge effort to fight this drug and to help those struggling find a way out of their addiction.  In this episode we welcome back Casey Lingan who is the General Counsel for the Fairfax County Sheriff.  In addition to having Casey back on the show, we were lucky to hav...

The criminal justice system and civil court system can be similar to one another in some ways. This is especially true when it comes to those that do not qualify for a public defender in a criminal case or a legal aid attorney in a civil matter.  A huge amount of those going to court cannot afford to hire an attorney but they also do not qualify financially to have one appointed or a court appoint...