New Proposed Law Increases Transparency of Criminal Proceedings

It is the time of year when the Virginia General Assembly starts to vote on new laws that might come into effect either this year or next year. One of the major areas of law that is getting an overhaul this year is criminal procedure. Criminal procedure involves all the rights of defendants while they are defending against a criminal charge. Common examples include the right to speedy trial, the right to a preliminary hearing, and the right to jury sentencing.

The New Proposed Law Changes How Jury Selection Works. One of the most important part of defending yourself in a criminal proceeding is carefully selecting who will be deciding the case. We call this process “voir dire.” Your attorney will go through a series of questions with your potential jury members to determine if there is anyone that has any prejudice towards you or your kind of case. For example, if you are charged with a sexual offense then your lawyer may ask the jury members if they have been the victim of a violence crime or if a friend or family member has.

One area of questioning that has been traditionally forbidden is getting into the potential punishments that a Defendant is facing. The Commonwealth Attorney, the office responsible for prosecuting crimes, has always been reluctant to tell potential jury members how long they could be sending people to jail for fear that potential jurors would realize how unfair many types of crime punishments are.

In an effort to fix that and make the jury selection process more transparent, the General Assembly has proposed adding the following language to the law;

Counsel for either party shall have the right to examine the jurors regarding the potential range of punishment regardless of whether the jury will ascertain punishment pursuant to § 19.2-295.

This change is also combined with the power of a defendant to withdraw their request that their sentence be imposed by the jury rather than the judge. This gives more freedom to a Defendant in deciding how their case will go to trial.

Why you need a good criminal defense lawyer. A good criminal defense lawyer will know how to take full advantage of all the new laws that are being voted on. Make sure that your defense attorney knows these new laws so they can protect you in court.