Fairfax DUI first trial dates are your time to be fully prepared and ready for anything, says Fairfax DWI lawyer

Fairfax DUI first trial dates need full advance preparation by you and your Virginia DWI lawyer. Do not let any casual or breezy tone of others in the courthouse fool you as a defendant accused of driving a motor vehicle or boat under the influence of beer, wine, alcohol or drugs / medications pursuant to Virginia Code § 18.2-266. The prosecutor  / Virginia assistant commonwealth’s attorney is prosecuting cases usually to pursue convictions. Police generally want convictions. Judges, at minimum, see a sea of litigants and witnesses in the courtroom and know they need to do something to not still be in court past the 4:00 p.m. courthouse closing time. Do not let your Fairfax DWI lawyer reassure you that all is okay without first fully preparing you for each court date, including your possible testimony of that is needed. Even if your case has a low chance of incarceration (for instance in the absence of a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and with no alleged high speed nor collision), nobody wants a Virginia DWI conviction if they can avoid it, which can wreak havoc on a military career, probably at least gets inquired about for a security clearance application and renewal, sets the DUI-convicted person up for a harsh sentence if convicted a second time, and marks the person as misdemeanor-convicted, with limits on their driving privileges and usually with at least a suspended jail sentence.

For Fairfax DUI first trial dates, the better question than what to expect is how you are going to write the outcome of that date

Knowing what to expect for your Fairfax DUI first trial date is not enough to obtain victory in your case, rather than your doing what is necessary to obtain a win in court, starting with obtaining the right Virginia DWI attorney for you. Once you speak with a qualified Virginia DWI lawyer, you will know the importance of sufficient advance preparation, including getting the prosecutor a proposed discovery order sufficiently in advance (and to set a discovery / evidence provision hearing with the court if preferred or as needed), to file a proposed blood transfer order with the court if your blood was drawn to check your BAC, to obtain detailed records about your breath or blood-based BAC testing and analysis from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (DFS), and to file a request for and objection to any BAC certificate of analysis in your case. Hiring a Fairfax DWI lawyer at the last moment will not sufficiently address the foregoing preparation items. Waiting until your trial date to ask the court for more time to obtain a lawyer is not prudent, both because you do not want to find out that being delayed on any of the foregoing deadlines has been to your detriment, but also because your generally-assured first Fairfax DUI continuance on your first time in court should only be when you have a lawyer at that first court date to advise you whether that date to proceed to trial and how to proceed with case settlement / plea negotiations that day. (By the way, recently for the my first time in Fairfax District Court, a prosecutor actually objected — unsuccessfully — to my first trial date motion to continue my Fairfax DWI trial, and my motion was granted, as generally provided on page 82 of the Fairfax General District Court’s Administrative Procedures Manual (March 2017).

What non-checklist items can you and your Fairfax DWI lawyer to bring you closer to victory?

Ask your Fairfax DWI lawyer what proactive steps s/he will take to win your case or obtain the next best thing, and what steps you you can take to improve your chances of success with settlement negotiations, starting well before your Fairfax DUI first court date. I commonly recommend to my Virginia DWI clients to complete a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV)-approved eight-hour driver improvement class (I am able to recommend a particularly inexpensive online class); get an alcohol evaluation from an appropriate alcohol treatment program (for non-aggravated Virginia DWI cases, Before your Fairfax DUI first court date, I refer my clients to an inexpensive state-licensed program that will conduct their evaluation by phone); complete several Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings (here is a convenient AA meeting sign-in log) or online AA-type meetings (I provide my clients links to such online options) (this is not an admission of an alcohol problem, but instead is a confirmation of your commitment to using beer, wine and alcohol responsibly); and complete a two-hour Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Panel (VIP). All of these foregoing proactive steps by you will help show that you are a good risk for obtaining the most favorable case outcome.

What do I do if my Fairfax DWI lawyer does not seem to be taking my case seriously enough?

Any person with a DWI or any other prosecution against them deserves to have their Virginia criminal defense lawyer fully defend them, starting well before the Fairfax DUI first court date. For any reason you have any question about that with your attorney (whether or not that perception is accurate or not), ask your lawyer about that. I never rest on my laurels of success defending hundreds of DWI defendants including taking over one hundred such cases successfully to trial. Nor do I rest on the knowledge that I am among the small percentage of Virginia DWI defenders who are members of the National College of DUI Defense and the small percentage who have actually conducted field sobriety testing (FSTs or SFSTs) on people who have actually consumed beer, wine or liquor, with the in-person training of one of the nation’s top SFST trainers to police. My staff and I treat you as the deserving individual that you are, and your defense as sacrosanct to defend to the hilt.

Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz focuses his full time and attention on obtaining the best possible results for you against Virginia DWI and criminal charges. Typically, Jon Katz’s staff can schedule you to meet with him the same or next business day of your call. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person strictly confidential initial meeting with Jon about your court-scheduled case.