Merciless defense- Fairfax criminal lawyer knows that as the only way to go

Merciless defense is essential in Virginia court. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that from experience. It is okay for your Virginia criminal defense lawyer to be cordial with your assistant commonwealth’s attorney / prosecutor and cop(s) (at least if they are acting accordingly), but your lawyer’s kid gloves better come off at such moments of truth as obtaining discovery / evidence (including Brady / exculpatory evidence); drafting, preparing and a arguing motions / court arguments for the defense; drafting and arguing against prosecution motions; negotiating settlements; proceeding to trial; and handling any sentencing proceedings. Doing anything less is unacceptable.

If I want a favorable plea deal, should I hire a good friend of the prosecutors?

No is the answer to the above question. If the prosecutor is doing his or her job, s/he also is being merciless to the defense. Consider great athletes who are able to be friends with their opponents off the field, but stick to acting on killer instincts on the field. Moreover, Virginia prosecutors typically work for elected prosecutors, which means their top bosses answer directly to the electorate. Despite the wave of self-styled progressive chief commonwealth’s attorneys in Northern Virginia (and one lost the recent general election), they will still make themselves particularly answerable to so-called victims’ rights, interests of alleged crime victims who come across as particularly vulnerable, and keeping the roads safe from intoxicated drivers, and the streets and beyond safe from murder, rape, robbery, burglary, vandalism, and theft. This means that you are not assured a favorable plea deal, and when that happens, your lawyer better be fully ready for trial and to do well at trial. Moreover, as I have said time and time again, human nature is to negotiate more favorably with the opposition (here your criminal defense lawyer) when feeling a threat from the opponent (here full trial readiness, which your Virginia criminal lawyer better have).

Will my prosecutor or police officer(s) want to stick it to me if I hire anyone but a Virginia criminal defense lawyer who is part of the good ole boy network with the assistant commonwealth’s attorneys, judges and police?

The above is not the right question. The better question is whether you have a lawyer who will do a great job for you in court, with case negotiations, and with controlling and being merciless with the law enforcement officers (LEOs) against you run roughshod over your rights. From a practical standpoint alone, being part of any good ole boy network is not necessary for accomplishing any of the foregoing. Moreover, if your judge wants to be reappointed at the end of his or her term, s/he does not want to be perceived as favoring a criminal defense lawyer, even if the judge plays golf with your lawyer. Your prosecutor is not likely to be the chief prosecutor (unless you are in a more rural jurisdiction outside of Fairfax and the rest of Northern Virginia), and will be fully interested in pleasing his or her ultimate boss and supervisors and not in pleasing your lawyer. The police want their job security and to look good with their peers, and doing favors for your lawyer does not serve any of that.

Should I hire a former prosecutor for his or her intelligence about the prosecutor’s office and for his or her relationships with the prosecutors and police?

The above is an overly simplistic question. If you are considering hiring a former prosecutor, your questions to that prosecutor are wise to include finding out why the lawyer switched sides (numerous will admit even very publicly that the switch was mainly or purely financial), any discomfort the former prosecutor has from switching sides, whether the proverbial transplant (from prosecution to defense) has or has not been a successful transplant or rejected transplant, and whether that lawyer will be merciless against the opposition. The notion of hiring a former prosecutor — by definition someone who was repeatedly seeking convictions and incarceration — is an illusion. The concept of needing your Virginia criminal lawyer to have intelligence developed from being a prosecutor is a fallacy, because your criminal defense lawyer can develop that intelligence without having needed to work for the opposition. As to relationship building, your criminal defense lawyer can also build relationships with prosecutors and police. Moreover, if your potential Virginia criminal lawyer touts having been a former prosecutor, that role is all the less relevant if that lawyer did not work under the current Fairfax chief prosecutor or other chief prosecutor in the county you are dealing with. Although but a movie, George C. Scott as the winning General Patton speaks wisdom in not needing to have worked for the other side to beat the other side, when he proclaimed while watching the allies fighting the Germans: “Rommel, you magnicent bastard- I read your book!,” that book being Infantry Attacks.A fish does not adapt to living outside the water, and not all prosecutors can adapt well to switching to criminal defense, where the former prosecutor must deal with the defendant, work with even the smallest of kernels offering the possibility of victory, and embrace the criminal defense lawyer’s role that carries no police support and digs, digs, and digs for ways to win.

Your lawyer can at once be amiable with your opponent and still be fully merciless with the police and prosecutor, and effective and powerful for you

One of the nation’s best (and late) criminal defense lawyers was relentless in defending his clients and also disarming with his opponents. The story goes that a different lawyer was at a police station and felt the tension so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. In walked an amiable other criminal defense lawyer (who earned so much money that he would cover the bill at a restaurant table of even fifteen people without even looking at the total), poured himself old coffee from the machine, and the tension disappeared. And in the courtroom, this amiable lawyer clearly was as merciless with these same and other police and the prosecutor as he needed to be.

Is your potential or actual Virginia criminal lawyer sharpening and practicing with his or her proverbial bayonet when you are not around?

What is your Virginia criminal lawyer doing behind the scenes? S/he best not be merely gladhanding at gatherings of lawyers at happy hour or bar events, rather than keeping their nose to the grindstone, burning the midnight oil, and finding and brainstorming with colleagues who also give a damn and a full passion to criminal defendants. Watch what happens when you ask your potential Virginia criminal lawyer specifically what s/he will do for you, and your hired lawyer what s/he has been doing for you. If your attorney shows any hostility or discomfort over such inquiries from you, beware, and beware again. Watch whether your lawyer fully welcomes your ideas and works with you as a team, proactively keeps you informed about developments in your case, prepares and files essential court filings, provides you copies of what both sides are filing with the court (and any communications from the court), Make sure that your lawyer is focused on kicking proverbial butt and busting their butt for your benefit and in pursuing your best defense.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows how important a great defense is to you as a Virginia criminal defendant, and gives you the full fight for justice that you need and deserve. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person confidential consultation about your court-pending prosecution for alleged violation of the Virginia DUI, felony or misdemeanor law.