Melt the courtroom ice, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Melt the courtroom ice is what I say as a Fairfax criminal lawyer. At first blush, plenty of prosecutors, judges, police and others seem to have ice in their veins in dealing with Virginia criminal defendants. If they truly have that level of hard-heartedness, why is that? Plenty of prosecutors choose such work not out of idealism, politics nor bias, but out of seeing it as a career and experiential stepping stone, where many non-criminal litigators get little trial experience and where plenty of legal employers are more interested in hiring former prosecutors than lawyers whose only criminal law experience is on the criminal side. Nonetheless, just as the criminal defense side has lawyers, like I, who are true believers in criminal defense and could not stomach prosecuting, the law enforcement and prosecutorial side have those who could not fathom working for the criminal defense side, whether because of their own experience as crime victims or being close to crime victims, wanting to exercise the power of policing and prosecution, simply not wanting to change the status quo of the criminal justice system to the benefit of criminal defendants or otherwise. Fear is a word that leads plenty of judges to be firm sentencers and firm imposers of pretrial release conditions (including denying pretrial release), and that leads people to work for police and prosecutorial offices and to shun working for criminal defendants.

Instead of getting derailed by icy-hearted seeming Virginia judges, prosecutors and police, flip the script to melt their ice

For the judges, prosecutors and police officers who fear some or many Virginia criminal defendants, they are not going to be turned around overnight. What, then, can a Virginia criminal defendant change or develop that helps melt that ice without compromising the dignity and personhood of the defendant? It can start with something as simple as coming to court appropriately dressed (I advise my clients to dress neat, modestly and respectfully), and expand into showing respect for the law and legal system that the person is able to respect, and to engage in self improvement not as an admission of culpability, but as a confirmation of devotion to being a responsible member of the community. Consequently, I tell my Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI defendant clients that they are misguided to not follow my self improvement recommendations out of concern that taking those steps will be viewed as admitting guilty, when I say not only it this about showing commitment to taking responsible actions from hereon out, but that police tend to see their suspects as guilty, and plenty of prosecutors do, as well. My Virginia DWI defense clients are not showing culpability when engaging in such self improvement as driving improvement (which is great for everyone to attend), AA-type meetings (we want all people to be responsible with drinking, and open AA meetings do not require saying one is an alcoholic), and the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victim Impact Panel (which is helpful to convince anyone not to get behind the wheel after consuming beer, wine or alcohol). Similarly, my Virginia drug defense clients are not admitting culpability by following my advice to engage in voluntary community service, obtaining negative urine drug screens (which can show my client as drug free), and attending drug education or drug treatment programs (which helps assure that the defendant will not stray into illicit drug use, whether or not they have done so before).

It is easier to persuade people within their world view than to radically alter that world view

Plenty of people grow up seeing law enforcement officers and prosecutors as the good guys. People who have experienced themselves or those close to them suffer from unjustly acting LEO’s and prosecutors know the reality that with police and prosecutors being human, their police uniform and assistant commonwealth’s attorney’s certificate does not immunize them from taking mis-steps that unjustly and very seriously harm criminal suspects and criminal defendants. To melt the ice with those police, prosecutors and judges with whom we deal, it is easier for them to be receptive when still holding onto their world view than experiencing the discomfort of overhauling that. It is easier for an often harsh-sentencing judge, a non-smiling LEO, or a matter of fact prosecutor to deviate from their usually hard-hearted approach to agree to a resolution that is favorable to a criminal defendant, than to work to fully transform themselves into someone that their friends and relatives barely know.

When I saw an often icy-acting judge in criminal court with his son

One day in a non-Virginia criminal courtroom, I saw a judge (now retired) whom criminal defense lawyers were not fond of, for his often icy actions that were not helpful to defendants, in court with his criminal defendant son. I asked myself whether that experience might soften the judge next time he is on the bench. I do not think I got a chance to see him presiding in the courtroom beyond that. This is to say that when an icy-seeming Virginia prosecutor, police officer or judge sees a criminal defendant as a whole person and not as a mere number, it can be harder for the icy-seeming person to inflict pain on the criminal suspect or criminal defendant, or at least might make them pause. A great Virginia criminal defense lawyer can use that pause time to persuade the judge, prosecutor or police officer to the side of the criminal defendant.

Humanizing a criminal defendant can help melt iciness in a judge, prosecutor or police officer

When a Virginia criminal defense lawyer and defendant humanizes the defendant, the judge, prosecutor and police officer no longer can successfully attempt to view them as a mere number than as the whole person they are. This approach to melt iciness can sometimes be as simple as obtaining the defendant’s authorization to explain the defendant’s actions from that date, whether because they were anxious not from drugs or alcohol but because of the next day’s academic examination, whether because the defendant was in over their behavioral or decisionmaking head, or whether they were fully innocent but in a place or situation that might have raised suspicions otherwise. A very reason that I as a Fairfax criminal lawyer regularly recommend relevant self improvement steps to my clients is that this helps humanize them, where prosecutors so many times see criminal defendants who have not seemed to lift a finger by the trial date to engage in any relevant self improvement steps. Once we shed looking at matters ideologically (for instance gnashing our teeth about cold-hearted-seeming players in the criminal justice system) and approach the matter more realistically (not trying to convince judges and prosecutors and police to overhaul their entire world view, rather than to have you avoid disadvantage from their world view), we can be closer to victory in our Virginia criminal defense.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that defending against Virginia DUI, felony and misdemeanor prosecutions is far from one-size-fits-all and about defense that is tailor-made for each defendant and that constantly gets readusted and refined. Find out what Jon Katz can do for you in pursuing your best defense, through a free in-person initial confidential consultation about your court-pending Virginia prosecution. To schedule your confidential meeting with Jon Katz, please contact his staff at 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com and (text) 571-406-7268.