With the opening of a new office in Rockville, Maryland, the Law Offices of Price Benowitz, LLP brings convenience and accessibility to clients in need of a Rockville criminal lawyer. Located at 51 Monroe Street, the newest office of the full service criminal defense firm is situated across from the courthouse in Rockville, Maryland.

Headquartered in Washington DC, the Law Offices of Price Benowitz, LLP has multiple locations across the state of Maryland. The new location brings to Rockville the firm's extensive experience in criminal and DUI defense. Price Benowitz, LLP, one of managing partners of the law firm, says of the recent addition, "This new location makes the law firm more accessible to our clients in Montgomery County."

Montgomery County criminal attorney Kush Arora, a defense lawyer with the Law Offices of Price Benowitz, LLP echoes the sentiment: "Having this new location enhances our visibility in Montgomery County for clients in need of a Rockville DUI lawyer."
The location's proximity to the courthouse makes it a convenient meeting place for clients seeking defense counsel from qualified Rockville DUI lawyers and Rockville criminal lawyers, says Jennifer Closser, a Montgomery County DUI lawyer with the firm.
Clients at the new Rockville law office will primarily be represented by Montgomery County criminal lawyers Price Benowitz, LLP, Kush Arora, and Jennifer Closser.

Price Benowitz, LLP graduated with honors from the George Washington University Law School and received an advanced law degree in Trial Advocacy from Temple University Law School. Widely recognized for his professionalism, Benowitz has been awarded Martindale Hubbel's highest rating of AV and has a perfect score of 10 on the AVVO rating system.

Maryland criminal attorney Kush Arora is a graduate of The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. While in law school, Arora was active in organizations including the Moot Court Society and DC Law Students in Court. Additionally, he was an officer of the South Asian Bar Association. Before joining The Law Offices of Price Benowitz, LLP, Kush Arora was an Assistant Public Defender in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Jennifer Closser, a Maryland criminal attorney with the Rockville office, has experience defending many types of felony and misdemeanor cases. Closser is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School and a former Maryland Assistant State's Attorney. As an Assistant State's Attorney, Closser was honored by a Governor's Citation, a House Resolution from the Maryland House of Delegates and a Resolution from the Maryland Senate.

Both the woman who is charged with allegedly maiming a Virginia Department of Transportation Worker while driving drunk and the VDOT worker injured in the crash testified September 30th about the nearly fatal collision. Twenty-two-year-old Vitalija Vasciunaite's Virginia DUI Lawyer says her client is charged with felony hit-and-run and felony maiming-while-intoxicated following the crash on July 17th this year that severely injured Jose Martinez-Quinteros.

Vasciunaite cried as Martinez-Quinteros, who now relies on a walker after suffering a broken arm, leg and facial injuries in the crash, testified about the night of the crash in court:
"It happened so suddenly," the Spanish-speaking Martinez-Quinteros said through a translator. "I heard two of the cones being hit, and I looked up and saw the lights, and then it hit me. It actually threw me 20 feet."

Another individual who was driving on I-64 the night of the crash testified that she had attempted to warn law enforcement officials of a person driving erratically prior to the accident. Dara Cole, of Stuart Draft, said in court that she twice called 911 to report Vasciuniate's "dark Buick" that night but lost sight of the vehicle near the site of the crash:
"It was obvious to me that the vehicle was driving erratically, and I wasn't going to take a chance going around it," said Cole, testifying that she dialed 911 on both sides of the mountain before losing sight of the vehicle as it sped up in the vicinity of the rest area about a mile past the collision site.

Senior State Trooper Thomas Skehan located the Buick at the home of Miller School employee Carl Stout. Stout, who had been unable to sleep the evening of the incident, was sitting outside at a small table when Vasciuniate returned after the crash. Stout testified that he did not associate Vasciuniate's odd behavior with the crash reported earlier in the evening until he noticed significant damage to the Buick. Stout's ex-wife called to tell him police were looking for the vehicle, and he reported the incident.

Trooper Skehan said Vasciuniate denied any incidents that evening while driving, but later admitted to hitting "something" with the vehicle:

"Then she changed her story," says Skehan, "and said, 'I know I hit something. Was it in the area of the work zone?'"

Skehan informed her that it was a human.

"She said, 'Oh, my god-- I didn't know I hit someone.'"

Trooper Skehan administered a Breathalyzer test five hours after the crash to Vasciuniate, and she reportedly blew .15, twice the legal limit, on that test. Vasciuniate's hit-and-run charge was certified to the grand jury for December 6 of this year, and her Virginia DUI charge will also be reviewed.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyers and Washington DC DUI Lawyer websites.

Virginia criminal attorneys for a man facing the death penalty in two Fairfax County murders revealed on September 20th that their client is now a suspect in two additional murders in Riverside County, California. If the charges in California move forward, Alfredo Prieto will have been charged with a total of six murders and four rapes that occurred during a two year period from 1988 to 1990.

The Riverside County sheriff's department submitted DNA samples to a Texas lab last year that had been collected in five unsolved homicide cases, linking Prieto to the cold cases. The same method was used in 2006 to extradite Prieto to Virginia for the 1988 murders of Rachel Raver and Warren Fulton III, both twenty-two. At the time, Prieto was serving a sentence in California for a separate rape and murder. He was convicted of raping Raver and killing her and Fulton, and a jury sentenced Prieto to death. Last year, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered the sentencing phase be done over, as the verdict form did not allow an option for a life sentence. On September 7th, jury selection for the resentencing began in Fairfax County.

Virginia criminal attorneys for Prieto have requested a mistrial in the pending case in Fairfax to allow time for them to review the allegations in California. Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond Morrogh said he only learned of the DNA matches in California after jury selection was already underway. Morrogh indicated that a Riverside investigator asked if a plea deal would be considered in Fairfax to ensure Prieto's cooperation in the cases in California. Morrogh said that he had not received written conformation of the matches and was disinclined to "put it in."

Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows decided not to declare a mistrial in the case, saying:

"The Commonwealth has taken it [the cases linked to Prieto in California] off the table for purposes of this trial."

Jury selection continues in Fairfax County, and Morrogh plans to argue that Prieto be sentenced to death.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyers and Virginia DUI Lawyer websites.

A "bizarre" car accident at a Woodbridge car wash has lead to the arrest of an employee after he struck a car and two fellow employees with a customer's Jeep, removed his shirt, and fled the scene. Nineteen-year-old Miguel Aguirre-Casoverde is said to have lost control of the SUV, injuring a twenty-year-old man and forty-eight-year-old woman who were wiping down the parked car involved in the crash.

The incident occurred at the Sonic Soft Carwash on Jefferson Davis Highway. Witnesses report that the Jeep Commander veered out of the wash bay continuing "in a horseshoe pattern" before pinning a woman near another SUV against the other vehicle. Reports indicate one of the victims was sent "flying into the air" from the force of the impact. All involved are expected to make a full recovery.

Although Aguirre-Casoverde fled the scene, he returned after an hour. He was arrested and charged with reckless driving and hit-and-run, and it was not disclosed whether he has yet retained or been assigned a Virginia reckless driving lawyer to face those charges.

Prince William County Police spokesman Jonathan Perok said that during Aguirre-Casoverde's processing at the jail, it was discovered that he is not a legal resident of the US:

"Through our investigative procedures at the jail, standard procedures at the jail when anyone is arrested, it was determined that the driver is here illegally, and ICE has been notified."

Although it was also revealed that Aguirre-Casoverde does not possess a drivers license, that is not a legal requirement to operate a vehicle on private property in Prince William County.

This article is presented by The Law Office of Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Washington DC DUI and Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney websites.

A Rocky Mount police officer who was the subject of a state police probe has been charged with three felony counts of using a computer to invade someone's privacy. Thirty-six-year-old Officer Christopher Williams was indicted by a jury in Franklin County on September 13th and is accused of "using a computer without authority to examine and distribute identifying information about another person."

Franklin County Circuit Court Judge William Alexander appointed Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom as special prosecutor in the case, and Branscom said the case "is more about the violation of rules than corruption." Branscom declined to comment further. The town's interim police chief David Cundiff said the allegations of misconduct were revealed in the course of another, unrelated investigation. He indicated that he requested the inquiry not long after he became interim police chief, after overhearing a conversation during which a captain and lieutenant discussed how to investigate an unspecified matter.

Cundiff was unable to elaborate on the status of the other investigation that brought Williams' alleged crimes to light. Cundiff, who has been serving as interim police chief in Rocky Mount since June, is a member of the county board of supervisors and a former county sheriff's office investigator. He replaced former police chief Erik Molllin after Mollin stepped down from the position in February for undisclosed reasons

On Tuesday, Williams commented briefly on the charges, saying they "are just allegations." He directed all further questions be asked of his Virginia criminal lawyer, who was unavailable to comment on the case. Williams could receive up to five years in prison for each charge if convicted. Cundiff confirmed that Williams has been suspended without pay. A trial date for Williams has been set for November 17th.

This article is presented by The Law Office of Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Attorneys and Virginia DUI Attorneys websites.