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Virginia magistrates aren’t your friends says Fairfax criminal lawyer

November 23, 2022

Virginia magistrates (VM's) must be dealt with cautiously by criminal defendants. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, They are not your friends, as they have their own employment obligations. Deal with them prudently and respectfully, and they might give you good results. Deal with them disrespectfully,...

Virginia Circuit Court judges must articulate bond denial reasons

April 27, 2022

Virginia Circuit Court judges must articulate the reason for their denying bond / bail / pretrial release to a criminal defendant, for the reasons addressed below. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have experienced District Court judges who do not state those reasons. Their reasoning...

Pretrial detention presumptions nixed by Virginia legislation

March 21, 2021

Pretrial detention presumptions are reversed by Virginia legislation awaiting the governor’s signature Pretrial detention (PD) presumptions are a reality for presumed-innocent people prosecuted in Virginia for alleged designated repeat drug felony charges, robbery, other violent crimes, and other felonies. This is an even more serious...

Pretrial release- Fairfax lawyer on cash bond reform

February 17, 2019

Pretrial release for criminal defendants involves the defendant's promise to appear timely for all court dates, pretrial release conditions and/or cash bonds/ bail. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer speaking for my clients' interests, I want my asset-limited clients to not have to struggle to pay...

Virginia’s presumption of no bail law gets no presumption of innocence offset

February 16, 2018

Virginia's presumption of no bail law gets no presumption of innocence offset, as confirmed this week by Virginia's Supreme Court. Virginia v. Duse, ___ Va. ___ (Feb. 12, 2018). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know the harshness of Virginia (Va. Code § 19.2-120) and...

Court Arrest Warrants – Fairfax Criminal Lawyer’s Tips – Part 2

November 29, 2017

As a Fairfax, Virginia, criminal lawyer, I know that when a risk exists that the Virginia magistrate will not let the defendant be released on bail, the criminal defense lawyer needs to be ready to arrange a bond hearing before a judge as soon as...

Arrest Warrants – Fairfax Criminal Lawyer on How to Handle Them – Part 1

November 28, 2017

Arrest warrants should never be ignored. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and Virginia DUI attorney, I know that ignoring them leaves the warrants a chance to catch up on the defendant in unforeseen and undesirable ways. Arrest warrants ordinarily get issued as a result of...

Federal criminal defense during Jeff Sessions’ time as attorney general

December 4, 2016

Criminal defendants and everyone else are not in for a pretty time during Donald Trump's presidency. Trump is no friend of the Bill of Rights and civil liberties and is likely to nominate plenty of candidates for the Supreme Court and lower federal courts who...

Justice Department on pretrial jailing- Not okay for mere indigency but okay for drug charges

August 28, 2016

We need to reverse federal and state laws creating no-bail presumptions for designated felonies.

Jon is a great professional

I had the pleasure to be represented by Jon Katz for a DUI charge Jon is a great professional he took my case and it was dropped to a reckless driving offense it has been a pleasure to work with Jon Katz he will get you great outcomes

Ivan
Source: Google
Fairfax Criminal Defense

Jon Katz works magic. If I could give him more than 5 stars I would. Represented me for a DWI/DUI with a BAC of 0.25 and got the DUI charged dismissed! He’s definitely an expert and I’m glad I trusted his judgement throughout the whole process.

Anon.
Source: Avvo
He runs a meticulous outfit, and his support staff was excellent.

FAIRFAX CRIMINAL LAWYER I met Jon two days ago. He had started driving from Fairfax at six in the morning – crossing nearly the entire state to defend me in a small town that looked like it was frozen in the nineteen-forties.

The town looked like a set for Mississippi Burning. There were some beautiful buildings – but it also seemed menacing. I had been charged in this small town, and had spent months trying to arrange an adequate legal defense – from my home in Miami.

When I was first charged, I was overwhelmed by the situation. I then did what you are doing now: looked thru online reviews for the best lawyer for my case. Jon fit the bill so I called him. Since then, it has been several weeks of intense back and forth with him. He runs a meticulous outfit, and his support staff was excellent. They worked very hard to collect and compile all the useful documents. Everything worked. No mistakes.

I had multiple phone conversations with Jon, but, because of the long distance, had not met him in person. The court date was two days ago. I had arranged to meet Jon in a diner a few blocks from the courthouse. Before Jon arrived, I was in pretty bad shape. I had made a series of stupid mistakes, which had led to the charges, and I understood that, if things didn’t break my way – I was facing serious prison time. Jon walked into the diner, and sat down across from me. He has more than a passing resemblance to Bobby Kennedy. He also has something rare: Star Power. People in the diner, and later in the courthouse, followed him with their eyes. He is a person who immediately meets your eyes, and holds the eye contact. It was like suddenly being in a John Grisham movie, and you are on the side of the angels. Think of it like having Gus Grissom from CSI Las Vegas, sit down across from you at a diner- and he says he can help you. Jon ordered a black coffee and lifted two huge brown paper binders on to the table. He carefully flipped thru pages that he and his staff had organized with tabs. He had all my important defense documents immediately accessible.

Jon and I walked a few blocks to the courthouse. The sky was a steely overcast slate grey. We went thru the security guards with their holstered Glocks. He went thru some heavy doors to talk to the Prosecutor. The court doors then opened and we were directed to approach the bench. The prosecutor was an attractive woman, in a perfectly tailored outfit. She started talking to the Judge and seemed to be advocating FOR ME! I don’t fully understand what happened, but Jon had arranged for the case to be amended downwards, and then an on the spot dismissal with no guilty plea, no conviction, and several thousand dollar fines were reduced to a hundred dollar court cost.

We left the Courthouse – back into the worn brick town. He drove me to my hotel in his vintage sport’s car. I was left standing there outside my hotel on a cold January day in rural Virginia. My life had changed in a matter of hours. Jon had saved my life.

K. H.
Source: Google

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Jon Katz Practices in the Following Courts and Beyond