Jon Katz’s victories

If given a choice between having my client’s drunk driving case prosecuted in Virginia or Maryland, ordinarily I would choose Maryland. In the Maryland counties where I practice most often, including Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Howard, ordinarily, absent such unusual circumstances as a bad accident...

Sometimes criminal defendants win their cases by getting the evidence suppressed. That is how I won a recent DWI case. Where I practice, judges, not juries, decide evidentiary issues over suppressing stops, searches, seizures, arrests  and statements to the police, although juries may be instructed...

Recently I met with a potential client charged with drunk driving. When I was addressing some of his case defenses with him, he replied: “I am guilty, so why should I be pleading not guilty?” Why, indeed. Because the prosecution alone has the burden of...

Assault trials are a unique challenge to win for the defense, as I have learned after having defended a few hundred of them. For simple assault, sometimes they are most often winnable in a “he said-she said” testimonial situation with no witnesses and no pictures...

A great number of my clients probably have committed the crimes they are charged with committing. A large percentage of my trial acquittals has likely been for people who committed the alleged crimes. Whether my clients have or have not committed the alleged crimes, and...

The amazing Sunwolf inspires me to see reality as no obstacle in the fight for my clients. As I repeatedly tell my clients when advising them to plead innocent and go to trial, that is the only way to have a shot at beating the...

The life of criminal defense lawyering inevitably faces the trial lawyer with seemingly numerous unpleasant and downright distressing people and situations. They run from yelling and seemingly underhandedly scheming lawyers, to lying and nasty opposing witnesses, to numerous judges who seem to be prosecutors in...

Winning in court is not about brute force nor about merely believing that the client deserves victory. It is about constant preparation, devotion, practice, passion, study with others and solo, and belief in the lawyer’s client and cause. Winning requires shoveling sh*t on the way...

Image from public domain. Many medical marijuana users grow multiple marijuana plants to assure an uninterrupted supply of quality medicine. When one is prosecuted for growing multiple marijuana plants in the jurisdictions where I practice (where only Maryland has an affirmative medical marijuana defense among the jurisdictions...

A critical part of persuasion is storytelling, including bringing the jury within the circle of the story. Of course, storytelling alone may not be persuasive enough, because trials ordinarily involve various versions of the truth and challenges to the credibility and reliability of various opposing witnesses...