Instructing the jury to your benefit is vital for your Virginia attorney to pursue, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Instructing the jury to your benefit must be front and center to your Virginia attorney, and not an afterthought, nor a slapdash exercise. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that attorneys may feel relief and/or exhaustion at finishing the evidentiary part of your trial — which includes direct and cross examination of witnesses, and presenting exhibits — but every part of your trial is critical in pursuing the best possible result against your prosecution. Stamina is so very important for your Virginia defense attorney and the you to have for your trial, which starts with focusing on sufficient rest, exercise and nutrition, and also includes cutting out unnecessary energy drainers, which includes people acting like downers, social media that vibrates low, and excessive watching of movies, television programs and other unnecessary time usurpers.

What are the sources for instructing juries?

The Virginia model criminal jury instructions are here. Virginia federal trials do not have a uniform materials for instructing jurors, and do not generally have a definition of reasonable doubt to provide to the jury. Model criminal jury instructions are not carved in stone. Your Virginia criminal defense lawyer needs to be ready to propose alterations, as advisable, to the model instructions, replacements as needed, and original instructions for items absent in the model instructions in the first place.

If your Virginia criminal trial judge rejects your lawyer’s proposed jury instruction(s), be ready to make that an appellate issue.

Jadeen Keivon Person got his murder conviction and use of a firearm in the commission of murder conviction reversed, because his trial judge declined to read the jury the following right to arm instruction requested by Person’s Virginia criminal lawyer: “A person who reasonably believes that another intends to attack him or another for the purpose of killing him or another or doing him or another serious bodily harm has a right to arm himself for his own necessary self-protection or the protection of another. In such a case, no inference of malice can be drawn from the fact that he armed himself.” Person v. Commonwealth of Virginia,  ___ Va. App. ___ (2026). Person says “The evidence supported the instruction and it was a proper statement of the law,” where, as here, Person testified that he armed himself in his own home after hearing his brother therein state that he had been shot. Instructing the jury to your benefit is critical to the role of your Virginia criminal attorney.

What if I am locked up pending my Virginia criminal appeal?

Person’s appellate victory concerning instructing his jury, probably came while he was still incarcerated, and he may remain incarcerated pending his likely retrial. Because of the delays that can come from obtaining appellate relief — and because appellate relief does not always mean immediate jail or prison release, it is vital for your Virginia criminal lawyer to take the two-pronged trial approach of pursuing a trial acquittal and preserving the appellate record through objections, motions and relevant court filings.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz relentlessly pursues your best defense against Virginia felony, misdemeanor and criminal prosecutions. Be ready to be uplifted by your initial consultation with Jon Katz, as he helps make you better informed and more confident about your defenses. Usually Jon can meet you within a business day of your contacting his staff at 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com and (text) 571-406-7268.