Speedy trial considerations are several, says Fairfax criminal defense lawyer

Speedy trial considerations (ST) are several. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I point out that Virginia criminal defendants have both statutory and Constitutional (both state and federal) Constitutional ST rights. The federal Sixth Amendment provide: : “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial…” The Virginia Bill of Rights proclaims: “That in criminal prosecutions a man… shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial…” Virginia Constitution Article I, § 8. (If your case is in federal court, beware that the federal ST right’s clock can be so quick as to deprive a criminal defendant of sufficient time to prepare their defense.) Your ST rights can be your friend, but also can lead to judicial reluctance to continue your trial date. Read on.

Fairfax criminal defense lawyer says talk with your attorney about speedy trial considerations before a request is made to continue your trial date

My previous blog entry addresses your Constitutional and Virginia statutory speedy trial considerations. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I believe that before your first trial date and before your attorney asks the court to continue your trial date, you should talk with your attorney about the relevance of your Constitutional and statutory speedy trial rights, including that the Virginia statutory ST statute (Virginia Code § 19.2-243) does not apply to misdemeanor prosecutions. For me, it is important that my clients are involved in making informed decisions about scheduling their trial dates. When your Virginia criminal defense lawyer does ask for a trial date continuance or an initial trial date that is more than three months away, it is important for you to know the speedy trial implications of doing so, and it is important that your attorney preserve your ST rights otherwise (for instance to not have the defense charged with more days for the trial date delay than necessary). 

How can my Virginia criminal defense lawyer avoid my ST rights from preventing a trial date continuance that I want?

A Virginia criminal defendant may want a trial date continuance for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to having sufficient time to secure the best possible lawyer for them, to coordinate with an expert witness’s schedule, to have more time to investigate and prepare for trial, to handle and respond to newly-obtained evidence and discovery, and to negotiate the case further. At the same time, Virginia judges and prosecutors (in the form of objecting to a trial date continuance) will consider the extent to which any such continuance may favor you for your speedy trial considerations should another continuance be caused by a prosecutorial request or by the court’s own action. Those ST factors may be less of a judicial concern when the judge knows that the defendant has clearly, knowing, understandingly and unequivocally waived ST rights to obtain the continuance.

Virginia criminal defense lawyers need to advocate for your ST rights with full focus, clarity, aggression, and good numbers analysis

Ci’yante Arcorey Atavius Wingate had an excellent Virginia criminal defense team who won his full and final dismissal of his unlawful shooting felony conviction, through a combination of timely entering objections based on speedy trial considerations, preserving his options for arguing his ST rights, understanding his ST rights, preserving his appellate record and convincing his entire Virginia Supreme Court appellate panel to dismiss his case as a result. Wingate v. Commonwealth of Virginia, __ Va. App. __ (2026). At the same time, it is cases like Wingate that may make some or many Virginia trial judges hesitate to grant more than very short trial date continuance requests made by the defense. For that hesitation not to amount to a denial, your Virginia criminal defense lawyer’s trial date continuance motion might include a ST timeline that states the time delay / waiting periods that should be attributed to the defense. Wingate’s lawyer apparently did not do the latter, and Wingate benefitted with a final dismissal of his felony prosecution as a result.

Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that a criminal defendant should not rely on only one possible avenue to an acquittal or lesser victory. Consequently, Jon Katz leaves no relevant stone unturned in pursuing his clients’ best defense against Virginia DUI, felony and misdemeanor prosecutions. See what Jon means about that by meeting with him for your free initial strictly confidential in-person consultation with Jon about your court-pending Virginia prosecution, at 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com or (text) 571-406-7268.