Creating a great Virginia DWI court outcome takes drive, courage, and choosing the right attorney, says Fairfax DUI lawyer

Creating a great Virginia DWI court outcome does not happen overnight, but takes sweat equity, courage, selecting the right Virginia DUI attorney, and working closely and well with your counsel. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that no Virginia DWI defense is a shoe-in for a great court result. With all my defense work, I am reminded of the vital lesson that a more experienced martial arts practitioner taught me about breaking boards with one’s fists and feet. That is to aim for a point beyond the board, lest you break a bone by stopping at the board’s hard surface. In pursuing your best possible defense in court, I aim for a point beyond what seems needed to obtain victory in your case.

For creating a great court outcome, should I choose my Virginia DUI lawyer without meeting the attorney in person?

Why do people spend good money to experience a concert rather than paying much less for the concert DVD? Nothing can fully convey the full visual and auditory effect of being present as all is happening live, let alone capturing the essence of the performers. The same goes with meeting your potential lawyer, and meeting the lawyer’s staff, on the road to creating a great Virginia DUI court outcome. (And if your potential DWI attorney does not have a staff, it is legitimate for you to ask the attorney how the lawyer offsets the absence of any administrative assistant employee). The attorney’s eyes, facial expressions, and bodily movements will tell you much, starting with your own comfort level (or not) in fully engaging (and see if the lawyer engages with you, or is distant) with that lawyer. When the attorney sets aside time for you to meet, that is also an expression of dedication by the lawyer, rather than simply talking with you by phone on the fly. Make sure your lawyer will be able to do a great job in advancing your defense at any trial. Here are more of my thoughts on choosing the right Virginia DUI lawyer for you. To this I add the importance of your lawyer’s making your defense a judgment-free zone that is much of a turnkey operation for you as possible. This is not to say that you should be able to sit on the sidelines and let your lawyer do all the heavy lifting, but does mean for the lawyer not to have you do his or her work for your attorney.

Do I really need to do a driver improvement class and AA meetings before my Virginia DUI trial date?

As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I know that part of overcovering risk in your creating a defense against a prosecution under Virginia Code § 18.2-266 for allegedly driving a car or other motor vehicle after consuming beer, wine, alcohol or drugs, is to engage in self improvement. Such engagement has repeatedly made a big difference for my negotiating favorable case outcomes for my clients, and helps convince otherwise resistant judges to accept such deals. If the police first encountered you due to a collision or an alleged moving violation (for instance running a stop sign or red light, not maintaining one traffic lane, or speeding), then it makes sense to complete a driving improvement class. If the alleged driving misbehavior is minor enough, I usually suggest simply completing an online eight-hour driver improvement class. Here is a list of Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV)-approved programs. I typically recommend IdriveSafely.com , for being user friendly, DMV-approved, and around $40 for the entire program. When my Virginia DUI client’s alleged driving behavior was high speed or a serious collision, often I will recommend a higher-end program like Lifestyles Learning in Fairfax. A less costly alternative to that is to add an aggressive driving driver education component, adding four hours to the standard eight hour driver improvement program. I also recommend that my clients attend at least a few documented Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings (here is your sign in log for such meetings) or related online meetings through Stepchat.com (60 minute meetings) and SmartRecovery.org (90 minutes). One needs not to say they are an alcoholic to attend. I describe such attendance as a resolution to be responsible with alcohol. Moreover, attending such meetings is a sobering (pun intended) wake-up call to avoid the road to the bottom of so many alcoholics who discover they were drinking their dinner and who do not exaggerate in saying they would be dead without AA.

Do I need to attend a MADD Victim Impact Panel and get an alcohol evaluation before my Virginia DUI trial date?

As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I also know that creating enhanced case negotiating can include attending an online two-hour Victim Impact Panel presented by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Also, Virginia judges and assistant commonwealth’s attorneys / prosecutors do not want to have their pictures on the front page of the newspaper in connection with someone they let off mildly, only to learn that they soon thereafter committed alleged vehicular homicide with alcohol or a near fatal collision after drinking. One way to provide such convincing is to present a favorable evaluation from a state-licensed alcohol treatment / education program. My experience has been that the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) will not provide the defendant nor their lawyer such an evaluation. For clients who are likely to be evaluated as having a serious drinking issue, I tend to favor referring them to a program that will give both a realistic assessment but will also be able to paint a positive picture of my client’s amenability to treatment and the benefits that such treatment can provide. For clients who are likely to be evaluated more closely to social drinkers, I know of a private program for well under $100 that will do the evaluation through a phone call that usually will not last over an hour.

Must I timely respond to my Virginia DUI lawyers’ inquiries in creating my great defense?

When you have a good attorney, s/he will timely respond to you, will stay in contact with you, will keep you informed, and will make essential inquiries of you. It might be tempting for you as a Virginia DUI defendant to avoid responding to your attorney’s communications in order to avoid further confronting the more uncomfortable aspects of your case. However, just as a person wants a huge lump on their body to be checked to rule out cancer lest it grow into something worse, you need to nip as much in the bud as possible with your Virginia DWI defense, so do yourself a favor in creating a great DWI defense by responding to your lawyer within a day of his or her contacting you. When you work closely as a team with your lawyer, you will witness the positive results.

What do I do if my, Virginia DUI prosecution involves an allegedly high blood alcohol level, alleged death or severe injury, high speed, or a collision?

When your DWI prosecution involves any of the foregoing aggravated allegations, it is all the more important for you to obtain the right attorney for you. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I repeatedly deal with aggravating factors. Instead of running away from such allegations, in creating great court outcomes, I confront them head on, in order to reveal any of their weaknesses, and to shine a bigger picture than the ugliness that prosecutors and police present. Every DWI case I have defended has included useful avenues to pursue an acquittal or at least a less severe outcome than a felony conviction or a mandatory minimum sentence. I do not look at a client’s case and say “aw sh*t”, and instead insist on finding the best path to a favorable outcome for my Virginia DUI defense client.

Do not rely on a magic DUI court bullet. You gotta bust ’em

The foregoing sums up how you must approach creating a great Virginia DWI defense, including obtaining the right attorney. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I bust ’em in favor of my clients, which is much more desirable than letting others bust mine first. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person confidential consultation with top-rated Virginia DUI attorney Jon Katz about your court-pending case.