Aberration and rehabilitation are important themes for negotiating Virginia prosecutions and for any sentencing proceedings

Aberration and rehabilitation are often important themes when a Virginia criminal defense attorney negotiates to settle a prosecuted case, and also for any sentencing proceedings. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the last thing a prosecutor, police officer or judge wants on their watch is to proceed with a significant break for the defendant, only for the defendant next to commit a similar or worse crime. I address all this using as an example one of my recent accomplishments of settling for a standard wet reckless driving conviction for a client prosecuted for alleged Virginia DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, intoxicants or a combination thereof) at over twice the alleged legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit.

How does the arresting law enforcement officer (LEO) agree to a wet reckless driving result from a high alleged BAC DUI prosecution?

In the foregoing case, I struck an immediate genuine rapport with the investigating and arresting police officer, who stopped my client for an alleged moving violations (including crossing over the yellow line more than once). The LEO’s bodycamera video footage shows my client being polite with the police officer and performing field testing at a level that provided the prosecutor at least a good chance that the judge would find probable cause to arrest him for DWI. My intelligence about the BAC testing did not support anything to successfully attack about such testing. Consequently, with nothing to lose doing so, I asked the police officer what he thought about a wet reckless driving disposition based on this aberration of a case and with my client’s great self rehabilitation with twenty self help / Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)-type meeting, a good evaluation from an alcohol treatment program, completion of a driver improvement class, and completion of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Panel. The police officer seemed to see this as the aberration that it was, and was on board with recommending a wet reckless driving disposition to the prosecutor.

Self rehabilitation and aberration can be important for negotiating with the LEO and prosecutor, and convincing the trial judge

Even with the more so-called progressive Virginia prosecutors’ offices as that of the Fairfax commonwealth’s attorney, they are still looking out for law enforcement and working cooperatively with police. Therefore, prosecutors are going to listen to what LEO has to say whether or not that is favorable to a Virginia criminal defendant and the extent to which this is or is not an aberration by the defendant. Because police cannot be classified as victims, Virginia assistant commonwealth’s attorneys do not need to be concerned about victims’ rights when entering a more favorable plea deal than the LEO wants, but knows the backlash that can follow going against such LEO grain, including complaints by the LEO to the prosecutor’s superior. Nonetheless, prosecutors are obligated to make decisions independent of police pressure, and police need to know that if they come down too hard on a prosecutor, that does not serve their interests on a larger scale. In any event, my client’s self rehabilitation / self improvement steps, and good alcohol treatment program evaluation also served as important talking points to convince the prosecutor to settle this allegedly elevated BAC Virginia DUI prosecution for wet reckless.

Be ready for pushback by judges who think the prosecutor is being too lenient

Even before the current self-styled progressive Fairfax chief prosecutor took office nearly six years ago, one day I appeared before Judge A with a favorable plea deal in a Virginia DUI case, and the judge rejected the agreed sentence. We withdrew the plea, and went before a different judge that same morning, who accepted the deal, without my needing to address the matter of aberration. Self rehabilitation is important for Virginia criminal defendants not only to assist with settlement / plea deal negotiations, but also to help convince a judge to accept the parties’ plea deal and to assist with any sentencing after a trial that results in a conviction.

Top-rated Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz continuously pushes the envelope to obtain the best possible results for Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI defendants within the bounds of the law. You will leave your free initial strictly confidential in-person consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending prosecution, feeling more confident and knowledgeable about your defenses and the realities and possibilities of your case. Usually Jon can meet with you within a business day of calling his staff at 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com, or (text) 571-406-7268.