Building a Fairfax felony theft defense requires working with somebody who is experienced in the field. A person that is knowledgeable and comfortable with the issues involved. When lawyers have cases over and over again, they develop a familiarity with what the usual issues are. If there are frequent search and seizure issues that always come up, lawyers will be able to fight that and be able to address it right away. Another thing is familiarity with the possible outcomes of the case and the possible dispositions that would be involved. It is important to have an experienced lawyer.
Another important aspect is evidentiary issues and how do to bring in a certain piece evidence to admit it in a hearing. Knowing the local jurisdiction is imperative. A person needs an experienced felony theft attorney who knows the area, knows the local rules, knows the people, the Commonwealth’s attorneys, the judges, and bar association there and their rules. A person needs somebody who knows the field and is able to use his ties to that area to the benefit of the defendant.
An attorney will learn the person’s status and whether or not they have they been held in custody or have they been given bail. Depending on the status, an attorney will proceed accordingly. If an individual is held in custody, then the first thing to do is to file a bond motion and argue that motion and to argue that the defendant should be let out on bail. The common things that attorneys present in their bond hearings are ties to the community, whether or not the defendant is at risk of flight, and how seriously he is facing the charge. The first step in building a Fairfax theft defense is hearing a bond motion with the hopes of granting bail to the defendant.
However, if the person is already not in custody then they would meet with the person, try to understand as much of the facts as possible, how the incident took place, who is available, what are potential witnesses, what potential evidence could be present to be subpoenaed, and also if there are any witnesses. They will also evaluate the value of the property. With grand larceny, there has to be proof that the value of the item taken exceeded a certain amount so the attorney also has to evaluate that aspect and see if the value of the item was lower than it was alleged to be. They try to understand the facts surrounding the charge and they are evaluating the facts based on the elements of the Commonwealth’s attorneys have to prove. Building a Fairfax felony theft defense also means evaluating the other side of the case.
On the evidence side, an attorney will be trying to preserve any evidence, they would be trying to contact a witnesses that could be moving out of the area or at risk of forgetting what is going on so they are contacting these people as well, and at the same they are also filing motions for discovery. In Fairfax, defendants are allowed to move to get discovery on a case. They are entitled to get three things: the first one is they are entitled to get any recorded or written statements made by the defendant, the second is they are also allowed to get the substance of any oral statements made by law enforcement, and then thirdly, they are allowed to get any criminal record that the defendant has. The general district court level is the level where a person starts. In such a court, discovery is larger and where most of them are disposed is in that level. The attorney is filing the discovery motion, trying to gather some information about the state as well. Talk to an attorney for more on building a Fairfax felony theft defense.