Jon Katz’s victories

Here is an overview of events leading to my recent trial win for a 0.14 blood draw case in Virginia General District Court. GDC: The police officer testified to seeing my client’s car stuck in a ditch, and my client’s saying he drove the car and nothing to drink...

During the year between college and law school, I was a financial auditor at one of the nation’s then-thirty largest banks. We reviewed the bank’s financial activities to assure the bank was adhering to safe and sound financial practices. This was the closest I ever came...

Yesterday, a jury acquitted my client of possessing with intent to distribute eight pounds of marijuana found in the backseat of his car, after we had lost our suppression hearing and were without a successful way to create doubt that this was anything other than...

Praised be my clients — amounting to the vast majority of them — who do not rush to plead guilty in an effort to avoid worse sentencing exposure in the event of a trial loss, than from pleading guilty. By the time my clients and...

“Jon,” an able Virginia criminal defense colleague said to me, “sometimes I just concede probable cause to arrest my DWI client, to keep out the preliminary breath test.” Why do that? Judges are not allowed at bench trials to consider suppression hearing evidence for the...

The DREAM Act is still a dream, to bypass immigration law penalties against those who came to the United States as children. Praised be the Obama Administration for having directed the use of prosecutorial discretion (see the June 15, 2012, Homeland Security Department directive, with...

Dare to challenge a judge’s evidentiary ruling, and s/he might growl: "I have already ruled, counsel. Move it along." The judge may not be growling only to directly address the lawyer’s behavior, but  alsoto scare the lawyer’s client so much that the client will beg...

A jury acquittal is spectacular for drama and a lawyer’s battle exercise and ego. However, for a defendant, the earlier he or s/he wins the better on the defendant’s psyche. In that regard, yesterday I won a trial through the latter approach. A police officer...

Virginia drunk driving convictions carry harsh results, including one year of no driving except for restricted purposes permitted by the court, mandatory ignition interlock coming your way regardless of the blood alcohol content, and expensive total payments for an attorney, fines and costs, and mandatory...

When a lawyer fully prepares a case to go to trial, it is more likely to settle than when a lawyer prepares the case to settle. I prepare every case to go to trial, and take many of them to trial. The preparation increases my victories,...