Resonating with judges and jurors is vital in pursuing your best defense, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Resonating with judges and jurors is critical for your Virginia criminal defense lawyer to pursue. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I take this approach often by integrating my lawyer role with communicating beyond that role, as a regular human being with laser focus on why the police lacked reasaonable articulable suspicion (RAS) to stop my client, why probable cause (PC) was absent under the Contitution’s Fourth Amendment to arrest the defendant, and why reasonable doubt exists to bar a conviction and cause an acquittal.

Resonating with judges and juror on the one-two punch of the absence of corroborating evidence in the incident video and police report

Perusasively resonating with judges and jurors can be as simple as making them unsure whether the police recounting of a material event is accurate when neither in their incident report nor bodycam video nor dashcam video of the incident. In a recent acquitta thatl I won — where the judge declined to admit the0 18  breath test / blood alcohol concentration (BAC) results into evidence at a Virginia DUI trial alleging a second driving while impaired by alcohol violation within ten years of each other — the judge enunciated the significance of the absence in the police report and incident video the following that the arresting law enforcement officer (LEO) asserted from the witness stand: For the walk and turn test (WAT) among the field sobreity tests (the FSTs/SFSTs), the LEO asserted that my client missed heel to toe several times, but did not record missing heel to toe in his report (and, therefore, did not state in his report the number of times missing heel to toe, nor the steps where heel to toe was missed). For the WAT test the arresting Virginia police officer also testified that my client stepped off the imaginary line a few times, but that was not in his report, let alone which steps were off line and by how much. On direct examination, the police officer testified that my client exhibited eight of eight clues on the walk and turn test (and the judge overruled my objection about stating that conclusion without stating what each cle was). I dismantled that conclusion on cross examination, for instance by getting the police officer’s agreement that my client never fell, did not orally miscount (even though the incident video showed he took too many steps out and did not take any return steps), and on redirect examination, the arresting officer revised his testimony to halve the alleged WAT clues to four out of eight. (On top of all that, I kept out the preliminary breath test (PBT) result on the basis that the PBT officer was not sure what PBT model he used. Virginia Code § 18.2-267.

What makes the difference between an acquittal or not from keeping out consideration of BAC testing in a Virginia DUI prosecution?

Resonating with a Virginia judge or jury needs to go beyond merely scoring one or two big points or more, but to obtain an acquittal. About a year ago, I convinced the judge to bar the BAC results for the breath technician’s failure to inspect my client’s mouth for foreign substances (that can trap mouth alcohol) at least twenty minutes before such testing started. The judge still convicted my client at that bench trial, declaring that my client’s driving behavior (or parking behavior as the case may be) was so egregious (sleeping in his car while in the sole lane of travel) as to be a major factor in his convicting my client of DWI. In my more recent above-detailed acquittal with the 0.18 BAC result, I hammered home in my opening statement my intention to attack the thin evidence to back up the arrest, the absence of an inspection of my client’s mouth for foreign substances, and the reasonable doubt to convict whether or not the BAC results were admitted into evidence.

Resonating persuasively involves planting and watering the acquittal seeds, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

My opening statement in this 0.18 BAC DWI victory set the stage for me to plant and water the seeds of accquittal. For instance, in finding a lawful arrest of my client, the judge still indicated that the evidence did not necessarily rise the level of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In key stages of the trial, I hammered home the nonexistent evidence of DWI absent the breat test result, and the absence of sufficient grounds to admit the BAC result into evidence. The prosecutor unsuccessfully tried arguing that inspecting the accused’s oral cavity did not require having him open his mouth, versus simply not seeing him put anything in his mouth nor having anything in his month. The judge volunteered a great example that a tic tac cannot be seen without having the suspect open their mouth. I added that a bit of dip / tobacco between a defendant’s cheek and gum also cannot automaically be seen. Resonating with the judge and jury involves a well-planned flowchart, and not reliance on one single argumetn or issue.

Reaching the final stretch to an acquittal

My 0.18 BAC DUI case acquittal. was not guaranteed, even after I kept the certificate of analysis result out of evidence, including where the judge pointed out that he saw my client swaying in the bodycam video, after the stopping officer testified that my client’s car hit the median. As I argued reasonable doubt in closing, I held my hand as far above my head as possible in addressing the meaning of beyond a reasonable doubt, and held my same hand only a little above my waist in addressing the much lower threshold for establishing probable cause to arrest. Also helping with resonating with the judge here was my stamina and energy in fighting against this Virginia DUI prosecution. This trial commenced around 11:30 a.m. and did not finish until around four hours later, with totals of up to an hour of breaks in between.

A Virginia acquittal from the first bite of the apple is better than two bites at the apple

Virginia misdemeanor DUI prosecutions typically involve two bites at the apple to pursue an acquittal. The benefits of winning at the District Court level include saving the uncertainty of the final results of the case, saving putting one’s life on hold while the prosecution is pending, and saving the extra fees and court costs from an appeal to the Virginia Circujit Court. Your Fairfax criminal lawyer / Virginia DWI attorney should be ready to make their best arguments at the original trial level, and not save that for a de novo  appeal.  This is your life, and you want a full court press from your attorney. Ask your potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer how s/he will be effectively resonating with the judge and/or jury in advoicating for your acquittal.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz relentlessly pursues your best defense against Virginia felony, misdemeanor and DUI prosecutions. Usually Jon Katz can meet with you at his downtown Fairfax office (across the street from the courthouse) within one business day of your requesting a meeting. This is a free in-person strictly confidential consultation at Jon Katz’s law firm, so long as you have a pending court date for a Virginia criminal prosecution. Your start to a great Fairfax criminal defense / Virginia DWI advocacy starts with your calling us at 703-383-1100, emailing us at Info@KatzJustice.com or texting 571-406-7268