What Can I Expect From a Virginia Beach Criminal Case?

After the charges are filed you can expect a Virginia Beach criminal attorney to begin building your case. This involves looking at the evidence and sometimes trying to negotiate with the prosecutor to see if they can offer good deals in situations that otherwise don’t have much of a fight possible.

Virginia Beach prosecutors have been cracking down on DUIs. They have a policy in Virginia Beach court of not accepting any plea deals for DUIs because of this. Virginia Beach courts treat DUIs very seriously and are very rarely lenient to anyone charged with one.

Because DUIs are so frequent police officers and prosecutors are doing as much as they can to ensure that people do not get off easy with these crimes and that anyone driving while intoxicated is brought in to answer to the court. The police officers routinely have checkpoints setup and the prosecutors take a very firm stance with DUIs.

What Does The Prosecution Have to Prove in Court?

The prosecutors have to prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. They either have to convince the judge that these elements have been met, or in a jury trial, they have to convince the jury panel.

The prosecution has the burden of proof which means that it is up to them to prove that the defendant is guilty of what the charge against them is. In other words it is not up to the defendant to prove that he is not guilty. The prosecution therefore must prove that each element of the crime in question has been satisfied.

If the charge is driving on a suspended license for example they must prove that the driver had a suspended license, that the driver drove while having a suspended license and that the driver knew that the license was suspended. The elements of the charge must all be met and be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore sometimes the defense can win by casting doubt on whether the elements were met rather than proving that the entire offense didn’t happen at all.

How Does The Prosecution Prove Their Case?

The prosecution utilizes every possible avenue that could be available to them for the particular case. Depending on the type of case the proof could come in a variety of forms which the prosecution will then present as evidence. Sometimes testimony is the strongest thing a prosecutor can count on such as in assault cases where there typically isn’t very much to the case besides the two people involved in the altercation.

Other evidence could be in the form of expert testimonies which is different from a lay person’s testimony because they are allowed to give opinions based on their knowledge. The prosecutors can also present photographs or phone records or business documents, really anything it just depends on what kind of charge we are looking at. The type of evidence is going to vary greatly from case to case.