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Fairfax General District Court: Arraignments & Information on Attorney Dates | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on September 01, 2022 in Criminal Defense

If you have been charged with a criminal offense in the Fairfax County General District Court, your first court appearance may be your arraignment. An arraignment or "advisement" hearing is the court’s opportunity to explain your charge, ask if you understand the charge, explain your right to an attorney and schedule your next hearing. Your next hearing will be your Information on Attorney date or "IAD."

Your arraignment is waivable, so long as you hire an attorney in advance. If you hire our Fairfax criminal lawyers before your arraignment date, we will submit the necessary documents with the court to remove your arraignment from the docket. Because the purpose of an arraignment is to advise the defendant, he or she will not need to attend it once an attorney is hired. It is the criminal lawyer’s job to advise his or her client, which is why the court waives the arraignment.

You are not required to hire an attorney prior to your arraignment. If you choose to attend your arraignment pro se (without a lawyer), the judge will give you a deadline for you to hire an attorney. This deadline is a scheduled hearing known as your Information on Attorney date. The IAD is waivable if an attorney is hired beforehand.

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Virginia Appeals Court Sides with Defendant in Firearms Case | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on September 01, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent appellate opinion in a Virginia firearms criminal case, the Commonwealth of Virginia appealed a decision by the trial court to grant the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized from a vehicle in which he was a passenger. On appeal, the Commonwealth argued that the trial court erred in granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized during a 2020 search of a vehicle the defendant was in. The Commonwealth claimed that the vehicle’s search was legal because it was supported by probable cause. Examining the facts of the case, the court of appeals disagreed, and affirmed the decision of the trial court.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, on July 6, 2020, a Virginia Beach Police officer was on patrol when he heard gunshots and saw a car speeding away from the location of the shots. The officer stopped the vehicle to identify the driver and the passenger, who is the defendant. While speaking with them, the officer noticed a brown cigarette that he believed to contain marijuana. There was no marijuana smell, and the officer did not examine the cigarette or field-test it. He told the defendant that he found what he believed was marijuana, and the defendant responded that he would “take the charge.” The officer advised them that if he did not find any other marijuana in the car, he would not charge them with possession of the drug.

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Virginia Defendant Unsuccessfully Appeals Manslaughter Conviction | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on August 11, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent opinion coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant appealed his conviction of aggravated involuntary manslaughter and his sentence of 20 years in prison. On appeal, the defendant’s main argument was that the evidence used at trial was not sufficient to result in a guilty conviction. Looking at the evidence, the court of appeals disagreed and affirmed the original conviction.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant in this case was at a nightclub one night with friends – over the course of the evening, he consumed seven beers and considered himself competent enough to drive home. Around 2:00am, the defendant got in his car and left the bar, later colliding with another vehicle as he was driving home.

A witness to the accident reported that he saw the defendant’s car speeding through the light. The force of the collision launched the second car off the road and up an embankment, at which point the second car struck a pole. The driver of the second car died immediately from blind force trauma to his head.

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Virginia Court of Appeals Widens Medical Amnesty Law | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on August 11, 2022 in Criminal Defense

Virginians who feel that they may be experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They either seek medical help just to potentially be criminally charged with driving under the influence or drug use, or they do nothing and put their health and lives at risk. Luckily, the Virginia state court of appeals recently issued a decision that widens the state’s medical amnesty law, Code §18.2-251.03, a law that shields individuals from criminal charges if they seek medical attention because of a drug or alcohol overdose.

Facts of the Case

According to the decision, the defendant-appellant was arrested outside of an emergency room for controlled substance possession and driving under the influence. Police escorted him into the emergency room. Once inside, the defendant began to make suicidal statements and represented that he chose to go to the emergency room because he was thinking about suicide. The defendant further explained that he believed drugs to be the cause of these thoughts, because he had smoked crack cocaine and used heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.

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Virginia Defendant Unsuccessfully Appeals Conviction in Possession of Ammunition Case | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on July 26, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant appealed his conviction for possession of ammunition by a felon. On appeal, the defendant argued that the officer that came into his house and found the ammunition did not actually have the right to be in his home, and thus that the evidence should have been suppressed. Looking at the totality of the circumstances in the case, the court of appeals disagreed and affirmed the defendant’s conviction.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was charged with assault and battery after physically and verbally abusing his wife. He was arrested because of the charges, and his wife called the officers investigating the crime to let them know that the defendant had ammunition in their home. Because the defendant had previously been convicted of felonies, possession of ammunition was a violation of Virginia law.

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Virginia Defendant Unsuccessfully Asks Court to Consider His Autism in Criminal Appeal | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on July 26, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent Virginia case involving the electronic solicitation of a minor, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his guilty conviction. According to the defendant, the trial court did not give enough weight to an expert witness’s testimony regarding the defendant’s recent diagnosis of autism. This social disorder, said the defendant, affected his capacity to understand the wrongfulness of his actions. The court ultimately disagreed with the defendant, and his conviction was affirmed.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the grandmother of an eleven-year-old girl reported to the police in 2018 that she had found sexually explicit messages on her granddaughter’s tablet. These messages were between the girl and the defendant in this case, mostly over Instagram and Google Hangouts. In the messages, the defendant had sent pictures of his genitalia, asked for pictures of the girl’s genitalia, and called the girl “babe” and “my girlfriend.”

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Virginia Defendant Loses Appeal in Strangulation Case, Despite Argument Regarding Insufficiency of Evidence | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on July 25, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent criminal case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his conviction for strangulation. The original charges against the defendant were brought when the defendant’s girlfriend told police officers that the defendant had strangled her one morning in the shower. After being found guilty at trial, the defendant appealed, arguing the evidence left reasonable doubt as to whether he was indeed guilty of strangling his girlfriend. The higher court disagreed, and the defendant ultimately lost his appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant’s girlfriend was in the shower one morning when the defendant noticed that another man had recently liked her post on Facebook. Immediately suspicious, the defendant approached his girlfriend and asked her what was going on. He then proceeded to get in the shower to choke her, yelling at her and leaving her with bruises and scratches on her body.

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Virginia Defendant Unsuccessfully Appeals Newly-Imposed Sentence After Violation of Probation | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on July 18, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant challenged the lower court’s order subjecting him to three years and seven months of incarceration after an alleged violation of his probation agreement. According to the defendant, the trial court was wrong to consider certain evidence relating to a 2017 case in which he was involved. If the trial court had not improperly relied on this evidence, said the defendant, the outcome and sentencing would have been different. On appeal, the higher court reviewed the defendant’s argument and ultimately affirmed the lower court’s decision.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in February 2017. He was sentenced to twenty years of incarceration with eighteen years and seven months suspended, provided he could show “good behavior” for the entire twenty years. In March 2021, however, the trial court convicted the defendant of a new crime, possession of a firearm. Because this conviction qualified as a violation of the defendant’s probation terms, the court revoked the defendant’s suspended sentences and ordered him to three years and seven months of active incarceration.

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Virginia Court Holds that Evidence was Sufficient to Convict Defendant of DWI | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on July 11, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his DWI conviction. Originally, a police officer found the defendant sleeping in his car, and upon several sobriety tests, the officer discovered that the defendant was intoxicated. The defendant was charged and convicted of driving while intoxicated. He appealed, arguing that there was not enough evidence to support the guilty finding. The court of appeals considered the defendant’s argument but ultimately denied it, concluding that the court could reasonably infer his guilt based on the facts presented by the officer.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, late one night in 2019, an officer was dispatched to investigate a report of two people asleep in their car. The officer found the reported vehicle partially parked on the sidewalk of a public street. Inside, the defendant and his girlfriend were both asleep. The car engine was off, but the gearshift was in the drive position and the headlights were on. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer smelled alcohol coming from inside.

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Virginia Defendant Successfully Argues Officers Invaded Right to Privacy During Vehicle Search | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on June 30, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the Commonwealth attempted to argue that the defendant’s motion to suppress incriminating evidence should have been denied. Originally, two officers pulled the defendant over in his vehicle and searched the car after getting a glimpse of an open container as well as a bit of marijuana inside. The defendant argued the officers’ search was unconstitutional, and the lower court agreed with him. When the Commonwealth appealed, the higher court affirmed the lower court’s decision and concluded that the officers infringed on the defendant’s right to privacy.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, two officers stopped the defendant one evening after they noticed his car traveling across lanes without any turn signal. During the traffic stop, the officers noticed an open container of liquor in the passenger seat. The container appeared as if was partially empty, even though the bottle cap was still screwed on.

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