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Identification

When criminal defendants wear the same clothes to court as from their arrest date

October 3, 2016

In many criminal cases, identification is a key defense, including for police stops of people identified on 911 calls, and for such cases as assault, passing bad checks, and theft.

Virginia Ct. App. okays limits on challenging identification of a robber

September 9, 2015

People misidentify others all the time. We think we see our best friend in the grocery store and realize it is a stranger. We meet a group of people and mistake two from the crowd for each other. We pay a store clerk at one moment...

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
A great lawyer who gives everything he has to his clients
Jon is a great lawyer who gives everything he has to his clients. He is always willing to go the extra mile to make sure that they get the best representation. I have had the pleasure of working with Jon on cases and I have seen how devoted he is.
Doug Ramseur
Source: Google
Tremendous experience and a dogged pursuit of justice for his clients
Jon has tremendous experience and a dogged pursuit of justice for his clients. He lives and breathes criminal/traffic cases and is a fixture in the local courts. Dedication and professionalism are just a few adjectives that describe Jon and his practice. I highly recommend him.
Kellam Parks
Source: Google

Identification

When criminal defendants wear the same clothes to court as from their arrest date

Virginia Ct. App. okays limits on challenging identification of a robber

Jon Katz Practices in the Following Courts and Beyond