Fairfax Trials by Fire - Get Yourself a Winning Virginia Criminal Lawyer
Fairfax trials by fire - Is your Virginia criminal lawyer up to the task?
Fairfax trials by fire need to be anticipated by Virginia criminal defendants in that courthouse' District Courts. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that this maxim applies to all Virginia trials. At the same time, you want your criminal defense attorney to possess and obtain the intelligence about the peculiarities of each courthouse, law, and type of case to maximize your potential for obtaining the best possible result in court. One point to consider is your judge. "Know your judge" is what every criminal defense lawyer needs to know. At the same time, be ready not to know who your judge will be until the morning of your Fairfax General District Court case, and be ready for the judge you first see in your courtroom to possibly change once if even twice.
Being ready for Fairfax trials by fire are an opportunity for your Virginia criminal lawyer to obtain justice for you
One of the great things about my being a private practicing Virginia criminal lawyer is that I have the opportunity to appear before dozens of different judges and scores of different prosecutors, on top of hundreds of different police and opposing witnesses. By my being ready for any opponent, any prosecution witness, any judge, any set of laws, any other situation, and any client for that matter, I am stronger and ready for anything in pursuing your best defense. This is imperfectly akin to soldiers who are fully trained for battle but without certainty of the terrain, weather and populace of the battleground into which they will parachute. Not having the home court advantage, they can only collect a finite amount of intelligence about an unknown place they are visiting. So long as your lawyer is fully ready for guerrilla warfare, conventional warfare and underhanded warfare without flinching or complaining, s/he is ready for Fairfax trials and and trials everywhere else. Prosecutors smugly thinking they have the homecourt advantage with a judge against an out-of-town lawyer will ultimately have that smirk wiped clear off their face when the out of town lawyer plays fairly but mercilessly to obtain the best possible result for his Virginia criminal defense client.
If my potential Virginia criminal lawyer does not pay sufficient attention to me or is dismissive of my ideas, how will that attorney understand what is on the judge's and prosecutor's minds, and not unnecessarily alienate them?
If your potential Virginia criminal lawyer touts his or her homecourt advantage and his close relationship with the judges and prosecutors, that is only as good as that attorney is as a lawyer. In fact, a good question to ask that lawyer is the extent to which s/he will let that homecourt situation hamper his or her willingness to ruffle the feathers of the players in the courthouse if that is what is needed to obtain a favorable result for you through Fairfax trials and anywhere else. You can also ask if your lawyer's good relationship with the judges and prosecutors has anything to do with their finding the attorney to be a pushover. If your potential Virginia criminal lawyer is good, s/he will not take offense at such questioning, but instead will hopefully be able to give you examples of when s/he pushed judges or prosecutors as needed to obtain justice for his clients, and earned all the more respect and trust from them for the lawyer's declining to be a sycophant or wet noodle. Make sure that your potential and hired Virginia criminal defense lawyer cares about his or her clients and works hard for them, starting with observing whether that lawyer pays sufficient attention to you, and is welcoming or dismissive of your ideas and questions. Deep listening is critical not only for helping criminal defendants, but also for sensing and understanding what is on the judge's and prosecutor's minds.
Obtaining a Fairfax courthouse victory even after having three different judges in the same day for the same case
Before the pandemic hit, typically the Fairfax General District Court judge you initially saw in your courtroom at the beginning of the day was nearly definitely going to remain as your judge. As a result of that prior practice, I once heard a Fairfax assistant commonwealth's attorney / prosecutor complain to a colleague that he was going to be stuck in the courtroom for more hours than usual, because we had one of the best judges for acquitting defendants, meaning less incentive for entering into plea agreements. Having such a judge brought Fairfax trials that offered a greater chance of acquittal. This past week saw one of the starkest changes from the one-day / one-judge approach in the Fairfax County General District Court, when Judge A (a favorable judge for our case) sent my case to Judge B (an even more favorable judge for our case) who then sent me to Judge C (less favorable than Judges A and B, but from the "know your judge" lesson, I got as good a result from him as with Judges A and B), after adjusting my approach for this particular judge who was less likely to approve our agreed favorable sentence (including no active jail time and a low fine); what helped save the day was providing the judge documentation of substantial self improvement success by my client.
Why are Fairfax trials more often being sent to new courtrooms on their court dates?
I asked the foregoing question to one of the more experience Fairfax General District Court clerks. She said that the court is more busy now that we have gotten further from the start of the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, I have been to courthouses where it was simply a matter of judicial efficiency for judges finishing their dockets early to accept cases from busier courtrooms. A judge desirable to criminal defendants who wants to encourage plea deals over trials may simply need to announce that those cases that do not resolve before the judge by a certain drop-dead time will be sent to Judge ______ who is known for saying "not guilty" less often than his colleagues and who is known for tending to give harsher sentences. Not knowing who your actual judge is more common now for Fairfax trials.
What must my Virginia criminal lawyer do to enhance my chances of success with any judge?
In case your prosecution may be transferred to a different courtroom or different judge on your trial date, make sure that your lawyer knows sufficiently in advance who are the possible judges for handling your case. That starts with checking which judges are in which courtrooms. (Of course, it is always possible that a judge handling chambers work will also be sent to handle your case.) Virginia also has a substitute judge system where a judge out for illness, vacation or otherwise gets replaced for the day with a substitute judge, who will either be a full-time judge visiting from another Virginia District Court, a retired judge, or a private-practicing lawyer (at least some of whom do that as a stepping stone to seeking a full-time judgeship). With Fairfax trials in General District Court, the substitute judges tend not to handle the non-traffic jailable criminal matters.
Do I have any way at all to forecast who will be my Fairfax District Court judge?
Up until a few years ago, a weekly schedule was posted with Fairfax General District Court judge assignments. One colleague figured out a general pattern of rotations of such Fairfax judges from courtroom 1D to courtroom 1X and so on, for dates for Fairfax trials. And then, the decisionmakers from this Fairfax court put the brakes on publishing judicial schedules. Even a Fairfax substitute judge I know told me that he is not even told the judicial schedule, other than to know the name of the judge for whom he is substituting. At the same time, the same judge tends to sit for most of the week in Fairfax courtroom 1D, and the same judge tends for all week to handle the satellite court (Fairfax City (Tuesdays and Thursdays), Vienna (Mondays) and Herndon (Wednesdays)). Even those forecasts are not carved in stone, including if the designated judge gets sick and needs a replacement judge for the day. This means that forecasting has its role, but only to a point.
Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz focuses on obtaining as much victory as possible against Virginia DUI, felony and misdemeanor prosecutions, no matter the challenges, the judge, or the prosecutor. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending case.
