In this episode,, we tackle a topic that many are curious about, that many do not understand, that many do not agree with, and one that is important to many many people.  We welcome a fellow attorney and friend, Brian Goodman, a Senior Trial Attorney with the Office of the Public Defender in Fairfax County.  Brian is also president elect of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is a member and leader in various other organizations as well.  Brian explains what it is like for nonbinary and transgender folks to be in the criminal justice system and why it is so ..read more

Well, we made it 100 episodes!  Seems crazy we have come that far. In this episode we bring on Judge Lindner from Fairfax County to put us in the hot seat!  We all knew him when he was a defense attorney and continue to see him in the cafeteria and around the courthouse weekly.   He questions us about about various criminal law related issues, how we get business, and what we would want to be doing if we were not criminal defense attorneys.  Thanks for joining us on our 100th episode ..read more

Please note that one of our regular co-hosts Anthony Nourse did not participate in this episode as he was recently appointed as a substitute judge in Fairfax County.  Due to the political nature of this episode, Mr. Nourse had to refrain from participating in this episode as required by the Canons of Judicial Conduct for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Every 4 years in Virginia, there is an election to vote for the head Commonwealth Attorney in each county  throughout Virginia.  This year, there is a fight in Fairfax County for the Commonwealth Attorney position.  The primary ..read more

When two of the four hosts on a podcast have worked as public defenders and one of the four hosts does a lot of court appointed and pro bono work, you have to bring on as many public defenders as you can because we recognize how hard a job it is to be a public defender or even a court appointed attorney.  In this episode, Shalev Ben-Avraham joins us in the hot seat as he shares his background with us and discusses various issues in the law.  Shalev has been a Public Defender in Fairfax, Arlington, and now still works as a Public Defender in Prince William County. LEGAL DISCLAIMER ..read more

There may come a time when your or someone you know has to testify.  In this episode we discuss if have to come to court to testify when you get a subpoena.  We also give tips on how we prep witnesses for trial or hearings and what a judge or jury may be looking for when they listen to testimony or are even just observing someone in court.  Our advice can apply to our clients and witnesses! LEGAL DISCLAIMER: If you are listening to this podcast, thank you!  We sincerely hope you are listening to this podcast for its entertainment value and not with the intention of acqu ..read more

Pranks and jokes are usually funny to people  but sometimes the joke can turn on you. In this episode we talk about a recent case in Northern Virginia where a social media prankster gets shot after trying to make someone else a victim of one of his pranks.  We discuss what types of charges can come from this, the right to involve others in your pranks, when a prank goes too far, and who should be charged in these type of scenarios and with what charges ..read more

We welcome back friends of ours who have sat as a sub host and as a guest on our show on previous episodes. Chris Holley and Blake Woloson subbed in for Alberto and Anna while they were both out of town.  In this episode we talk about what is attorney privilege, are there exceptions, etc.  It may not be what you think it is and your statements may or may not be protected ..read more

We enjoy hearing about new laws and how things went in the legislature sessions so we were lucky to have Senator Scott Surovell back as a repeat guest.  In this episode he shares with us the issues and laws they tried to resolve.  There are some lively discussions about some of the law changes but it is always great to hear from someone who was there firsthand making law in Virginia ..read more

We do not get that many cases where someone is being charged with escape from a jail or prison but when you see a news article about it from your own state and you have a podcast, you sort of have to talk about it.  Here is the link to the article that inspired today's topic for the podcast: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/inmates-who-dug-their-way-out-of-prison-with-toothbrushes-caught-at-diner-nearby/ar-AA18WMvQ?cvid=4c713239f0dc41db829ec4fde93f5533&ei=23 ..read more

Mental Health is an important topic and anyone at any given time could experience difficulties with this type of illness.  Sometimes mental health illnesses are apparent and sometimes not so much.  In this episode, we welcome attorney Bob Walker onto the show as our guest.  He is experienced and knowledgeable about mental health civil commitment hearings and he educates us and our listeners about these types of hearings.  Bob has not only practiced law in this area advocating for rights of clients experiencing mental health illnesses as well as advocating for family or thos ..read more