In July 2017, a local taxi driver picked up an intoxicated passenger at a casino and drove him to his home in Fairfax County. When the driver told the passenger the fare amount at their destination, the passenger did not pay and became aggressive. An altercation ensued between the driver and passenger, and the passenger ultimately sustained a small fracture in his skull, a broken orbital, a fractured elbow, and other lacerations and contusions. The police charged the driver with malicious wounding, a Class 3 felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Relying on the statements of the passenger and another witness, the police concluded that a weapon of some sort must have been used, although no weapon was ever found and the driver consistently denied using a weapon and maintained that he was acting in self-defense.
On July 24, 2018, Greenspun Shapiro represented the taxi driver in a two-day jury trial in the Fairfax County Circuit Court. The driver testified that he never used a weapon against the passenger and that he was acting in self-defense after being repeatedly assaulted by the passenger and after the passenger damaged his car by kicking it. After two full days of evidence, the jury deliberated for less than an hour and a half before returning a unanimous verdict of “Not Guilty.”