As a criminal defense attorney in Loudoun County, there are many questions that I am frequently asked by my potential clients including: (1) what must be proven in my case, (2) will the officer appear in court, and (3) what type of deals can be made with the Commonwealth. I will answer some of those later.
However, by far the most common question I get is what is going to happen or what you can guarantee will happen. These are ethically the most difficult questions to answer. I’ve seen similar cases over the years but every case is unique and all the results for every case are fact specific. Therefore, I generally do not answer that question fully, but I answer it to the best of my ability based upon the knowledge of the facts in terms of their case and try to give the client a response of what may happen given different potential variables.
However, the most common question is what’s going to happen to me and what can you promise. That is the question that any criminal defense attorney simply cannot answer at the initial consultation. The other common questions, such as will my officer appear in court are easier to answer.
In Loudoun County, especially if he’s involved in Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office or the Virginia State Police, there is an extremely high record for officers appearing on the day in court and it’s very unlikely that the officer will fail to appear.
Some common defense strategies are certainly using constitutional issues to try and suppress important evidence. Other defense strategies may include mistake of facts meaning that the law enforcement official or prosecutor have applied incorrect laws or the identity of the person who is alleged to have committed the offense is actually the wrong person.
Claim of right comes up in cases involving financial crimes or property crimes and that entails when you are charged with something which you are alleged in not being able to do such as go into some property or obtain money or take away some goods or services.
If you actually weren’t there to do those things and you can prove it, then that is certainly a defense to try to resist trespass, searching of property, or larceny.
There are many good solo practitioners in Loudoun County, however, there are definite benefits to hiring an attorney that is part of a law firm. In addition to having more resources such as investigators or assistants to handle ancillary issues involving a case, there are also other attorneys in a law firm that your attorney can discuss specific strategies, specific evidentiary matters, and really use as a sounding board for potential ideas involving a case. Having other attorneys in their firm to assist them can help balance their approach and get new insights to potential defense strategies.
Northern Virginia Criminal Defense Group
