Defend fully against prosecutions- Do not rely on a possible trial date postponement
Sickness is one of the most common criminal continuance request that gets granted, and particularly if the sickness might be contagious. Nonetheless, I recall at least one Fairfax judge who denied such a prosecutorial request concerning the police officer’s purported illness when I objected and argued in favor of more information (which was not provided by the prosecutor) before granting his continuance request, namely when did the police officer fall ill, what is his illness, and if he was already ill before today when (if at all) before today did the Fairfax police officer tell that to the prosecutor’s office, and if he told the prosecutor’s office about his illness before the court date, why was I not told before the court date, for my client (and any witnesses) to free up more of their court date for other matters? None of this is to say that criminal defendants should cook up that they are sick to avoid their trial date. Plenty of judges probably assume that many criminal defendants try that. Defendants must never lie...