New Prosecutors in Virginia – What Does it Mean for Criminal Charges? | Robinson Law, PLLC

 Posted on December 19, 2019 in Criminal Defense

In November of 2019, Prince William, Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties elected new Commonwealth’s Attorneys. Some of these prosecutors have hinted that they will not be prosecuting possession of marijuana and/or petit larceny cases. Apparently, some officers are informing defendants that they do not need to hire attorneys for these kinds of cases because the prosecutor will just "drop" them.

In reality, none of these new Commonwealth’s Attorneys have taken office yet, and no official plans have been set as to how the offices are going to handle these cases. Currently, there are programs, such as the deferred finding program, or the OAR program, that would end in these charges being dismissed. However, these types of "dismissals" may still have negative consequences, as you cannot remove these charges from your record, even though they show up as dismissed.

Without knowing exactly how each of these Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Offices are going to handle possession of marijuana and petit larceny cases, it is still very important to hire an attorney to represent you. We at Robinson Law can review the facts of your case and determine if there are any defenses, so that you may not even need to go through whatever processes, if any, are put in place. We can also work to guide you through whatever process is put in place, if that is the best course of action, or work to get you a result that could be removed from you record, even if the process put in place does not allow that. If you or someone you know has been charged with either possession of marijuana or petit larceny, contact us today for your free consultation.