Virginia Criminal Jurors May Not Credit Inherently Incredible Evidence
Virginia criminal jurors get wide latitude in deciding the extent to which they will believe, accept, or reject witness testimony and other evidence presented to them. As a?Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that a jury verdict is not automatically unassailable. If a?jury?convicts, a Virginia criminal defense lawyer should ask the judge to have the jurors polled to ascertain whether the jury has in fact reached a unanimous verdict of conviction. Criminal defense lawyers sometimes learn information to support invalidating a conviction after contacting jurors after the trial, sometimes learning about undue juror pressure on other jurors’ verdict votes, reading/listening to news of the trial, and independent research outside the four corners of the trial evidence. Sometimes, the evidence in the courtroom is so inherently incredible so as to not permit a conviction...