Accepting responsibility- Fairfax criminal lawyer says your sentencing judge may not penalize you for pleading not guilty

Accepting responsibility (AR) is a big deal at sentencing. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that AR is part of Virginia’s advisory sentencing guidelines, and that judges always consider AR. Virginia’s Court of Appeals confirms that a sentencing judge may not hold against a criminal defendant their exercising their Sixth Amendment Constitutional right to plead not guilty and proceed to trial, but may hold against a convicted defendant the refusal to engage in AR nor to show remorse for their convicted crime. Bowman v. Commonwealth of Virginia, Record No. 2185-23-3  (Va. App. 2025) (unpublished). On the other hand, how much difference is there between rewarding a Virginia criminal defendant for pleading guilty and penalizing them for doing the opposite?

Avoiding accepting responsibility biting you in the butt for a de novo appeal from Virginia District Court to Circuit Court

I prepare my client’s for at least accepting and acknowledging the gravity of their alleged crime(s) — in the event of a possible conviction — by helping them craft a plan of self improvement / self rehabilitation steps, and by discussing with them what they will say at any sentencing. If a Virginia criminal defendant is not going to appeal a conviction, s/he should seriously consider at any sentencing showing remorse, acknowledging the wrongness of their convicted crime, and addressing how and why the defendant will not repeat the same criminal behavior in the future. However, if the defendant might appeal his or her conviction from the Virginia District Court to Circuit Court, I talk with my client about whether to narrow such words down to not talking or (usually better) using the F-word. Not THAT F-word, but “follow”, as in: “I will fully follow your honor’s sentence.”

Does a trial penalty exist in Fairfax and the other Virginia courts?

Let us say your judge spends many hours presiding at your trial? The judge knows that as a result, s/he will have to work longer during your trial days to get other work done, will have to delay doing that other work, or will check with other judges to help with that work. If you get convicted after a lengthy trial, for the judge not to be remembering all the extra work that your trial caused would be great, but is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, your judge is not allowed to use such remembering against you for sentencing versus rewarding accepting responsibility: Consider: “[I]t was improper for the trial court here to consider Bowman’s decision to plead not guilty and proceed to a trial by jury. See id. at 266 n.33 (‘[W]hether the defendant expresses remorse at sentencing is a proper factor for consideration and the trial court may weigh the credibility of any such expression, provided it does not consider the defendant’s prior legal positions when doing so.’). Next, we must consider whether the trial court gave that consideration ‘significant weight.’… Based on the trial court’s repeated comments regarding Bowman’s election to be tried by a jury instead of entering a plea of guilty, we are compelled to conclude that it did… Thus, we remand for a resentencing hearing at which the trial court may only consider ‘all proper factors, and no improper ones.'” Bowman (citations omitted).

Your trial and right to trial are no mere formalities, and your trial needs to be fought tooth and nail, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

When I began my criminal defense career, my training focused heavily both on winning at trial and also dealing with sentencing, including accepting responsibility. In fact, the following three are essential for full criminal defense preparation before your trial date: Full trial preparation, excellent negotiations (ideally pursuing a dismissal rather than the most favorable conviction) and full sentencing readiness, Full trial preparation should guide that entire engine. Therefore, it is vital that you ask your potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer about their trial experience, skill, success, and strategy relevant to your case.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz makes sure he is fully combat ready well before your trial date against Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI prosecutions. An essential start of your criminal defense is to meet with an attorney with the firepower of Jon Katz. Jon’s staff will be delighted to schedule you for a free in-person strictly confidential consultation with Jon about your court-pending prosecution, usually enabling you to meet Jon within a day of your calling us, at 703-383-1100, Info@BeatTheProsecution.com and (text) 571-406-7268.