Fairfax judiciary members’ — and all Virginia judges’ — views of your case are critical to know and address in persuading them in your DUI or criminal prosecution

Fairfax judiciary members’ views of your case are critical for your Virginia DUI or criminal defense lawyer to know. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the importance of knowing your judge, jurors and prosecutor. You need a qualified lawyer to help you in that and all other areas of pursuing your best defense. Fairfax’s having one of the busiest criminal caseloads in the commonwealth of Virginia, this article includes a focus on that county.

Why do I need to know my Fairfax judiciary member’s view of my Virginia criminal or DUI case?

Even the most profitable consumer product and service providers spend massive resources to know the public’s pulse. Similarly, you want your Virginia criminal defense lawyer to know the pulse of your Fairfax judiciary members, and of any jurors. Even if two judges to the best of their ability scrupulously follow their judicial oaths, they will not always rule the same, and possibly not anywhere near the same. The vagaries and sometimes jaded or know-more-than-you-do approach of at least some judges, alone, make it important for your DUI or criminal lawyer to be ready for dealing with any judge or other of the players at the Virginia criminal courthouse, and to articulate whether you ultimately should pursue a jury trial.

How can my Virginia criminal defense lawyer know the pulse of my judge?

For your lawyer to know the pulse of your Fairfax judiciary member or other Virginia criminal court judge does not necessitate that your lawyer have closely known — and even fraternized — with your judge, but instead for your lawyer at least to understand the commonsensical practicalities of dealing with your judge, hopefully in as similar a situation as possible. If that calls for your lawyer to check with his or her Virginia criminal defense lawyer colleagues for the answer, than that is what your attorney needs to be ready to do.

What does a judge see when s/he enters the courtroom?

Were I to have answered the above question more than a few years ago, I would have told you about the now-retired Fairfax judicary member who — while wearing no judicial robes — would stand down the hallway of the main courthouse entrance and help tell people their courtroom number and where to find it. When I mentioned to him that this was the one of the first times I saw him in the Fairfax courthouse (when I started practicing there over 25 years ago), he quipped that he does not drink coffee in the morning and would engage in that self/motivated directional activity instead. This anecdote underlines that you and your Virginia criminal defense lawyer do not start with a blank slate in front of this judge, who may have dealt with or heard about your lawyer from colleagues or others, and who sees the crime you are accused of. If you or your cohorts in the courtroom are acting like laughing hyenas before the judge takes the bench or during a court recess, word may get to the judge from the courtroom sheriff’s deputy about such antics. As I repeatedly tell my Virginia DUI and criminal defense clients, the courthouse walls and halls have ears. It is ideal simply to wait until we are in a private courthouse conference room to address anything sensitive or confidential.

In Fairfax DUI / traffic court, the judge sees a sea of litigants, and wants court to end on time

In a famous television comedy episode, a mail carrier character explains how the mail to deliver keeps coming and coming, with no end in sight. Virginia judges also keep seeing more cases coming their way no matter how many they have already resolved. With a sufficiently qualified Virginia criminal defense lawyer on your side, the judge will know that your hired attorney is not likely to seek to waste the court’s time and that the lawyer wants to be efficient with the court’s and lawyer’s time persuading the court

Who will be my Fairfax County General District Court trial date?

Several years ago, the county General District Court stopped publicly publishing a schedule of the week’s Fairfax judiciary members for DUI, traffic and criminal court. Some patterns may emerge to narrow down the possible lost of judges for your courtroom, but with Fairfax General District Court DUI and other traffic cases, substitute judges (from another county, retired, or a preapproved private practicing attorney) also sit when the designated judge is sick or otherwise not working that day. Your Virginia criminal lawyer needs to have the ability to persuade any judge, no matter how undesirable your attorney says is the judge who has been assigned to your case for that day.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz relentlessly pursues your best defense against Virginia misdemeanor, DUI and felony prosecutions. Learn how by scheduling your free initial confidential in-person consultation with Jon Katz at 703-383-1100.