Protecting Your Rights In Virginia’s Criminal Courts
Mr. Hicks has been providing reliable, professional, capable and aggressive criminal defense for individuals in the Commonwealth of Virginia for many, many years. In addition to hundreds of other kinds of criminal cases, he handles over 60 DUI cases every year alone.
He is an award-winning attorney and former prosecutor with a track record of success in helping my clients get favorable outcomes in their cases. He has helped hundreds of defendants avoid jail or prison time, heavy fines, driver’s license suspension, and other penalties that can result from a criminal conviction.
If you are worried that your situation is hopeless, pick up the phone and call. As a seasoned Virginia criminal defense lawyer, he is ready to help you get started on protecting your future today. Contact him today to make a free appointment. When you hire Mr. Hicks, he will personally represent you, and will never send someone else to try your case.
B.R. Hicks, PC, handles a wide variety of felony and misdemeanor charges, including but not limited to cases involving:
- Domestic violence
- DUI/drunk driving
- Drug crimes (alleged possession, distribution, trafficking and manufacturing of illicit substances)
- Juvenile crimes
- Federal crimes
- Felonies
- Financial crimes
- Weapons crimes
- Sex crimes involving minors
- Sexual assault
- Rape
- Use of a computer to solicit a minor
- Incest
- Murder
- Manslaughter (involuntary or voluntary)
- Traffic offenses (hit-and-run, reckless driving and other traffic crimes)
- Driving while license is suspended or revoked
- Larceny
- Fraud/false pretense (including mortgage loan fraud and insurance fraud)
- Money laundering
- White collar crimes
What To Do After An Arrest
If you’ve been arrested for a misdemeanor or felony in Virginia, it’s important that you have an experienced lawyer representing you at the earliest possible moment. If you are with family or friends, ask them to immediately contact an attorney for you. Do not make any statement to the police, even if you believe that you are completely innocent. Simply ask for a lawyer or attorney, and the police have to stop questioning you at that point.
No matter what a police officer says to you, he or she is not your “friend.” It will not “go better for you” if you tell “your side of the story.” The police have a job to do, and they are hoping that you will make it easier for them by confessing. If you have something to say, let your lawyer say it for you.
Protecting The Rights Of Defendants In Criminal Cases
You have a right to drive down the street without being stopped by the police unless the police have a “reasonable and articulable suspicion” that you have committed some violation of the law. You have a right not to be arrested unless the police have “probable cause” to believe that you have committed a crime. You have a right to be released on a summon (much like a traffic ticket) if you have been arrested on most misdemeanor charges unless there is a reason to believe that you will not honor the summons, or reason to believe that you will not “cease and desist” from committing the illegal conduct. DWI or DUI (used interchangeably in Virginia law) and “drunk in public” are generally exceptions to that rule.
An experienced criminal defense attorney will try to convince the court to suppress all of the evidence that the police gathered from either an illegal “stop” or an illegal arrest. You have a right to be found “not guilty” unless the prosecution can prove your guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
An aggressive and capable defense attorney (or lawyer; the terms are interchangeable) will rarely concede anything and will make the prosecutor in your case prove every element of the charge against you if he or she can. If you are found guilty, your lawyer can be instrumental in convincing the court (judge or jury) to show you leniency. Your criminal defense lawyer should know how to use the evidence available to you to defend you, to try to help decrease your chances of being convicted.
Even when an attorney can’t “beat” a client’s charges (get them dismissed), he or she can often find ways to get the charges — and any associated penalties — significantly reduced. Your lawyer’s reputation as one who is experienced, aggressive and capable, and one who never pleads guilty unless it clearly is in his or her client’s best interests, can make all the difference in the world in the outcome of your case. As in every field, all lawyers are not equal.
An Experienced And Aggressive Criminal Law Attorney For Northern Virginia
Friends and family can be helpful following an arrest, but there is no substitute for working with a dedicated criminal defense attorney on your case if you have been charged. Contact B.R. Hicks, PC, to schedule a free consultation with a former prosecutor and police officer who knows both sides of the law when it comes to criminal defense matters.
