Fairfax DUI trials require hurrying up and waiting, and sometimes can be lengthy says Fairfax DWI lawyer

Fairfax DUI trials can take awhile between your court-posted start time and the time your proceeding actually concludes. As a Fairfax DWI lawyer, I proceed to your Virginia driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs adjudication date (prosecuted under Virginia Code § 18.2-266) ready with full stamina, experience successfully taking hundreds of such cases to trial, full preparation and focus on your best defense, and killer instincts. Virginia DWI and criminal defendants must arrive timely for their court times, but need to be ready for the start and conclusion of your case. Do yourself a favor by fully discussing your trial date with your Fairfax DUI lawyer starting well before your court date, including what to do during trial, settlement negotiations, preparing your testimony (even if you do not expect to testify), preparing for any sentencing proceeding, and even whether to bring reading material (yes) while waiting for your case to be called. (In Fairfax, you can usually expect at least a short lunch break, where you may purchase food and beverages in the basement cafeteria, or from vending machines on the first and basement floors. In some other courthouses, bring a snack or two in your pocket, in case the judge provides no such break, especially if in a courthouse without a vending machine or other food sales.) You may bring your cellphone and other computerized devices into the Fairfax courthouse (but not into all Virginia courthouses), but make sure you know the rules against taking photographs in the Fairfax courthouse, nor letting your phone ring nor vibrate in the courtroom.) 

For Fairfax DUI trials, how do I know before my trial date who will be my trial judge and prosecutor?

Many years ago, before the date of Fairfax DUI trials, defense lawyers could obtain a judge’s schedule for the county’s General District Court by finding the schedule posted on the bulletin board usually at least the Friday before the week of court, at the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. When I was in the middle of figuring out a persuasive way to ask the court to make the same list at least available to a defense lawyer designee, instead the Fairfax General District Court (GDC) went the stricter route and simply stopped publishing its judge list. Even a lawyer whom I know that sits as a substitute judge in Fairfax GDC told me that he has no special access to that list of names, other than that he is told the name of the full time Fairfax judge for whom he is substituting for the day. At the same time, Fairfax GDC courtroom 1D often has the same judge sitting there at least the majority of the days for a given week. Moreover, the Fairfax GDC judge presiding at the satellite courthouses for the week (Fairfax City, Herndon and Vienna) typically is the same judge the entire week

Can Virginia DWI prosecutions be settled for better than a conviction if not dismissed or acquitted outright?

For Fairfax DUI trials, do not expect the assistant commonwealth’s attorneys  / prosecutors in this Northern Virginia county — absent extraordinary circumstances in your favor — to offer any outright or eventual dismissal (for instance under the Virginia Code deferred disposition statute, Va. Code § 19.2-298.02, also known as 298.02 / “two ninety eight point o2”). Also, Virginia does not have PBJ’s (probation before judgment) like the state to our north. On the other hand, many times I have gotten Virginia DWI prosecutions acquitted, reduced to reckless driving, and sometimes even reduced to improper driving. What increases your chances at obtaining such favorable results? You got it, by obtaining a great DUI / criminal defense lawyer. (Also, nothing prevents a prosecution from settling during trial, which sometimes happens when the prosecutor sees firsthand that their case is not as strong as they expected, that the trial is going to take longer than anticipated, or that the defense lawyer called any negotiating bluff by the assistant commonwealth’s attorney by simply proceeding to trial.)

Do the Fairfax prosecutor have to offer me a plea deal?

Neither a criminal defendant nor their lawyer should rely on receiving a plea offer before Fairfax DUI trials, let alone a desirable one, but the less desirable plea deals for such cases are usually found outside this county. Prosecutors have no more obligation to make a plea offer than a house seller has to reduce their asking price by even a dime. Nonetheless, the plea deals that I have been reaching on Fairfax DUI trial dates under the current chief prosecutor have statistically been much better for a large percentage of my Virginia DWI defense cases than under the predecessor county commonwealth’s attorney. At the same time, when your Virginia assistant commonwealth’s attorney knows that your lawyer will do a great job at trial, that can be all the more of an incentive for the prosecutor to come closer to a plea deal with your Fairfax DWI lawyer that you will want.

What do I do if I lose my Fairfax DUI trial?

Those who lose their Fairfax DUI trials (or any criminal trial in any Virginia district court) have ten (10) days to timely and correctly file an appeal for a retrial in Circuit Court, which will be by a jury of seven U.S. citizen-residents of your court’s county. Talk with your Virginia DWI lawyer about whether and how to appeal, and whether and how to proceed to trial on appeal, to enter into plea negotiations pending appeal, and to withdraw your appeal and to being serving your district court sentence. If you lose your district court trial and if the judge imposes active jail time, make sure your lawyer is asking the judge to keep the already-existing bond the same pending appeal. If you were originally released on a secure bond, have yourself or your lawyer contact the party who paid your bond (either a bail bond company, or a friend or family member paying your bond in cash), make sure that said bail bond company or cash-paying friend / relative, timely and correctly notifies the court of such consent. The court may ask for your cash-paying person to come to the courthouse to sign such authorization. Unless the Fairfax courthouse and jail sheriff’s personnel include plenty of available personnel, expect at least an hour or several more between the time that your sentencing judge pronounces any active jail time and the time you are released for filing a notice of appeal, as that process includes getting you the appeal paperwork to sign (and make sure with your lawyer that the court and jail personnel keep on top the same day of the paperwork) and getting you processed out of the jail while the jail personnel are also processing other inmates out of the detention facility as well.

Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz synthesizes trial persuasion, the law, science and his deep caring for his clients and their cause, to deliver you great service in and out of court. Jon Katz is among a small percentage of Virginia DWI defenders who is a member of the essential National College of DUI Defense, or its equivalent. As shown on the latter NCDD webpage for Jon, he is a graduate of the NCDD’s Standard Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) multi-day course, which included being trained by one of the nation’s top FST instructors to police, and administering FSTs to people who had been consuming alcohol. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person initial consultation with Jon about your court-pending case.