What to Expect During a Felony Trial in Fairfax County (2026)

What to Expect During a Felony Trial in Fairfax County (2026)

A felony charge in Fairfax County moves through two courts before it is resolved. It begins in the District Courts, either the General District Court or the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, where a judge holds a preliminary hearing to decide whether there is probable cause. If the judge finds probable cause, the judge certifies the case to the grand jury. The grand jury reviews the charge and can return an indictment, which sends the case to the Fairfax County Circuit Court for arraignment, discovery, pretrial motions, and either a plea agreement or a trial. If the case goes to trial, a judge or a jury hears the evidence and decides guilt, and depending on the defendant’s choice, either a jury or a judge determines the sentence.

Most felony cases never reach a jury. They resolve through plea agreements. The early stages of a case, and how an attorney investigates it, affect the later stages, including the plea offer itself. At The Leiva Law Firm, Manuel Leiva has more than 25 years of trial experience and has tried felonies ranging from traffic offenses to murder before Northern Virginia juries. That trial readiness is the thread running through this entire guide, because it shapes the leverage you have at each step of your criminal case.

The Two Courts a Felony Passes Through

One of the first things that confuses people is why a felony case seems to bounce between courtrooms. It comes down to how Virginia divides the work between two courts.

A misdemeanor can be tried start to finish in District Court, but a felony cannot. The District Courts only screen the felony charge, and the case itself is decided in the Circuit Court.

Which district court holds that hearing depends on the charge. Most felonies begin in the General District Court. A felony charged against a family or household member, and any charge against a juvenile, goes to the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court instead. That court has no authority to decide a felony either. Under Va. Code § 16.1-241, once it certifies a felony charge, jurisdiction moves to the Circuit Court.

Stage 1: Arrest and Bail

The process starts with an arrest, which triggers a bail decision. Soon after arrest, the accused is brought before a magistrate for an initial bail hearing under Va. Code § 19.2-120. The law starts from a presumption of release. A person is supposed to be admitted to bail unless the officer finds probable cause to believe they will not appear for court or that their release is an unreasonable danger to the public or themselves.

In deciding bail, the magistrate weighs the nature of the offense, the strength of the evidence, the accused’s criminal history, and whether a firearm was allegedly involved.

The more serious the charge, the harder release becomes. For a serious felony, the nature of the offense and the weight of the evidence weigh heavily in the decision, and the court can also consider whether a firearm was allegedly involved. This is where trial readiness begins. Making the case for release means gathering community ties, employment records, and other mitigating evidence right away, not weeks later.

If a magistrate denies bail or sets an amount that is out of reach, there is a path to appeal. Depending on how the charge started, the request can go to the General District Court or the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court and then, if needed, up to the Circuit Court. The Commonwealth can also appeal a decision to grant bail.

Stage 2: The Preliminary Hearing in the District Courts

If the charge began with an arrest warrant, the first major court date is a preliminary hearing in the General District Court or the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court. This hearing has one narrow job: to decide whether there is probable cause to believe a felony was committed and that the accused committed it.

Probable cause is a low bar. The Commonwealth does not have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt here. The judge only has to find that it is more likely than not that the accused committed the offense. Because the standard is so low, most charges clear this hearing and move on to the grand jury.

That does not make the hearing a formality. A defendant can waive it, but we generally treat the preliminary hearing as an opportunity to cross-examine the prosecutor’s witnesses rather than a box to check. It puts the Commonwealth’s witnesses, often the arresting officer or the complaining witness, on the stand under oath. That gives us an early look at the prosecution’s case, a chance to lock witnesses into their testimony, and inconsistencies we can use later at trial.

Stage 3: The Grand Jury and Indictment

After the District Court finds probable cause, the case is certified to the Circuit Court and presented to a grand jury. Under Va. Code § 19.2-195, a regular grand jury in Virginia is made up of five to seven citizens. Its only job is to review the charge and decide whether there is enough probable cause to return an indictment, called a “true bill.”

The grand jury is a one-sided proceeding. It hears only the Commonwealth’s side. The defendant, the defense attorney, and the trial judge are not in the room, and the defense does not present evidence or cross-examine witnesses at this stage. Because it is one-sided, the grand jury returns an indictment in most cases that reach it.

In Fairfax County, the grand jury runs on a fixed schedule. A regular grand jury meets on the third Monday of every odd-numbered month (January, March, May, July, September, and November). An interim grand jury meets on the third Monday of every even-numbered month to keep cases moving.

Stage 4: Arraignment and Criminal Term Day in Circuit Court

Once the grand jury returns a true bill, the Circuit Court takes over the case. Fairfax County handles scheduling differently from many other jurisdictions. Instead of assigning a trial date at random, it uses a master scheduling docket called Criminal Term Day.

Criminal Term Day starts at 9:00 a.m. on the Thursday right after the grand jury meets. This is when the court, the prosecutor, and defense counsel set the dates for motions, plea hearings, and the trial. Defense attorneys have to appear to select a trial date, and you usually have to appear yourself. If your charge came from a direct indictment, meaning the prosecution skipped the District Court preliminary hearing and went straight to the grand jury, you are expected to appear, and failing to show can trigger a bench warrant.

The trial date set on Term Day matters more than it looks. A prepared attorney chooses a date that leaves enough room to receive discovery, line up expert witnesses, and file the pretrial motions the case needs.

Stage 5: Discovery and Pretrial Motions

Discovery is the formal exchange of evidence, and in Virginia felony cases it is governed by Rule 3A:11 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

On the defense’s written motion, the court orders the Commonwealth to let the defense inspect key material, including:

• Police reports and other relevant reports prepared by law enforcement
• The accused’s own written or recorded statements
• Statements of co-defendants the Commonwealth intends to use
• Scientific reports such as autopsies, ballistics, fingerprint analysis, and blood or breath testing

We do not wait for a case to reach Circuit Court to start asking for evidence. We request and receive discovery before your preliminary hearing in the District Courts, so we walk into that hearing already knowing what the Commonwealth has. Under Virginia’s discovery rules, we can review the police reports and body camera footage and go over the contents with you in detail.

With discovery in hand, the defense can file pretrial motions. These often include motions to compel more evidence, motions to separate co-defendants who are charged together, and, most importantly, motions to suppress. A motion to suppress argues that police obtained evidence in violation of your constitutional rights, such as an illegal search or a statement taken without proper warnings. When a suppression motion succeeds, it can remove the heart of the Commonwealth’s case and change everything that follows.

Stage 6: Plea Negotiations and the Weight of Trial Readiness

In practice, most felony charges in Virginia, like everywhere in the country, end in a plea agreement rather than a trial. But the shape of that plea offer is set long before anyone walks into a courtroom.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney weighs the risk of trial when deciding what to offer. If an attorney is known for pleading cases out no matter how weak the evidence, the prosecution has little reason to reduce a charge or offer an alternative. When an attorney has analyzed the discovery, filed real motions, and shown they will hold the Commonwealth to its burden in front of a jury, the calculation changes. The prosecution has to weigh the chance of an acquittal or a hung jury, and that often produces a better offer, even in cases that never go to trial. The attorney you choose is extremely important here. If you hire an attorney with little or no trial experience, the prosecutor will expect that your attorney is not going to try the case, and the plea offer will reflect that.

In a plea agreement, a charge is typically amended to a lesser offense rather than simply erased, and any dismissal a prosecutor seeks through a nolle prosequi still has to be approved by the court. Whether to accept a plea or take the case to trial is one of the hardest decisions a person and their family will face. Our role is to lay out the strengths, the risks, and the realistic range of outcomes, and to be honest about all of them. The decision itself belongs to the client. We do not push anyone into a plea to avoid the work of trying a case, and we do not treat a client’s future as a number to move off the docket.

The Felony Trial Itself

When a case does go to trial, the procedure is set by Virginia’s constitution and statutes.

Jury Trial or Bench Trial?

A defendant charged with a felony has the right to a jury. You can give up that right and ask for a bench trial, where the judge alone decides the case, but you cannot do it on your own. A waiver requires your informed consent, the judge’s approval, and the prosecutor’s concurrence. If the Commonwealth’s Attorney wants a jury, the case is tried before a jury, notwithstanding your preference.

Jury Selection

If the case goes to a jury, the selection is tightly regulated by Va. Code § 19.2-262.

Selection starts with voir dire, where the judge and both attorneys question the prospective jurors under oath. In criminal cases, the scope of that questioning is set by Va. Code § 19.2-262.01. The goal is to find and remove anyone with a bias that would keep them from being fair. Jurors with a clear conflict are struck “for cause.” After a qualified panel of 20 is set, each side uses its four peremptory strikes to remove jurors without stating a reason, until 12 remain. There is one firm limit on peremptory strikes: under Batson v. Kentucky and J.E.B. v. Alabama, an attorney cannot strike jurors because of their race or gender.

How the Trial Proceeds

Once the jury is seated, the trial follows a set order. Both sides give opening statements. Then the Commonwealth presents its case first, because it carries the entire burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense cross-examines each of the Commonwealth’s witnesses. After the Commonwealth rests, the defense may call its own witnesses, though you have the Fifth Amendment right not to testify, and that silence cannot be used against you. Both sides give closing arguments, and the jury retires to deliberate. A criminal verdict in Virginia must be unanimous, whether it is guilty or not guilty.

Cross-examination is where trial experience shows. In one Virginia case, our client faced a charge that carried a mandatory life sentence, and the Commonwealth’s case rested almost entirely on a single witness, a man already serving a life sentence who had agreed to testify against him. Our whole defense came down to that cross-examination. The jury returned a not guilty verdict in under an hour. It is one of several outcomes documented on our case results page. That kind of preparation comes from years of actually trying cases.

The Verdict and Sentencing

If the Commonwealth does not meet its burden, the defendant is acquitted and released. If the verdict is guilty, the case moves to sentencing, and the penalty depends on how the felony is classified. Under Va. Code § 18.2-10, Virginia sorts felonies into six classes.

Class 5 and Class 6 felonies give the court room to treat the offense more like a misdemeanor, with up to 12 months in local jail instead of a prison term.

Who Decides Your Sentence

This is the part of the process that changed the most in recent years, and it is where a lot of older information online is now wrong. For decades, if you were convicted by a jury in Virginia, that same jury also set your sentence. Juries were kept from seeing the state’s discretionary sentencing guidelines and could not be told about alternatives like probation, so jury sentences tended to be higher and less predictable than a judge’s.

That system changed on July 1, 2021. Today, if a jury convicts you, the judge sets the sentence by default, using the discretionary sentencing guidelines. You can still ask to be sentenced by the jury, but there is a hard deadline. Under Va. Code § 19.2-295, the written request for jury sentencing has to be filed at least 30 days before trial. In Bland-Henderson v. Commonwealth, decided in June 2024, the Supreme Court of Virginia confirmed that this deadline is mandatory, with no good-cause exception, and that missing it waives the right to have the jury sentence you. It is a good example of why the administrative side of a case matters as much as the courtroom side.

When jury sentencing is properly requested, Virginia uses a two-part, or bifurcated, trial under Va. Code § 19.2-295.1. In the first part, the jury decides only guilt, and it is kept from hearing about your prior record. If the verdict is guilty, the trial moves to a separate sentencing phase before the same jury, where the Commonwealth can introduce your prior convictions through certified court records. The prosecution has to give the defense 14 days’ written notice before trial if it intends to use that history.

How Long Does a Felony Case Take in Fairfax County?

Virginia’s speedy trial law, Va. Code § 19.2-243, sets outside limits, and they depend on whether you are in custody.

The clock generally starts when the General District Court or the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court finds probable cause, or, in a direct indictment, when you are arrested on the indictment. It does not run straight through, though. Any delay the defense requests, or agrees to, pauses the clock. That means an attorney has to balance the need for more preparation time against preserving your right to demand a dismissal if the Commonwealth takes too long. These cases in Circuit Court commonly run several months to a year from charge to resolution, depending on their complexity.

Life After a Felony Conviction

A felony conviction reaches past any jail time. It can cost you civil and constitutional rights, and this area of the law is changing fast in Virginia.

On voting, Virginia used to strip the right to vote from anyone convicted of any felony, restoring it only if the Governor acted on a case by case basis. In January 2026, a federal court held in King v. Youngkin that the blanket policy violates the federal Virginia Readmission Act, and narrowed the disqualifying convictions to the felonies that existed at common law in 1870, a list that includes arson, burglary, larceny, manslaughter, and murder. Virginia election officials began implementing that order in June 2026, removing non-common-law felonies from the screening system used on voter registrations, and the Virginia Department of Elections has updated its guidance accordingly. Many people with felony convictions no longer have to petition the Governor to vote. Virginia voters are also set to decide a constitutional amendment on the November 3, 2026 ballot that would automatically restore voting rights to anyone with a felony conviction as soon as they are released.

Firearms are a different matter. Under Va. Code § 18.2-308.2, it is a separate felony for a convicted felon to possess a firearm, and the ban is enforced strictly. Getting firearm rights back takes two steps in order. First you petition the Governor to restore your general civil rights. Only after that can you ask the Circuit Court to restore your firearm rights, and a judge decides whether to grant it after the Commonwealth’s Attorney has a chance to object.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a felony case take in Fairfax County?

For someone held in jail, Virginia’s speedy trial law requires the trial to begin within five months, about 152 days. For someone out on bond, the limit is nine months, about 273 days, though continuances the defense requests can pause that clock.

Can I choose a bench trial instead of a jury for a felony in Virginia?

Not on your own. Waiving a jury requires your consent, the judge’s approval, and the prosecutor’s agreement. If the Commonwealth’s Attorney insists on a jury, the case is tried before a jury.

How many jurors decide a felony case in Virginia, and do they all have to agree?

A felony jury in Circuit Court has 12 members, and the verdict has to be unanimous, whether it is guilty or not guilty.

Who decides my sentence if a jury convicts me?

Since July 1, 2021, the judge sets the sentence by default. You can ask for the jury to sentence you instead, but you have to file that request in writing at least 30 days before trial.

Will my felony case actually go to trial?

Most felony cases resolve through a plea agreement rather than a trial. Whether yours goes to trial depends on the evidence, the plea offer, and a decision you make with your attorney.

Which district court will my felony start in?

Most felonies begin in the General District Court. If the charge involves a family or household member, or if the person charged is a juvenile, the case starts in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court instead. Neither court can decide a felony. Both can only hold a preliminary hearing and certify the charge to the grand jury.

Facing a Felony Charge in Fairfax County?

A felony case is decided over months, in two courts, under rules that leave little room for error. The single biggest factor in how it goes is whether your attorney is genuinely ready to try it. Manuel Leiva has tried felonies through the most serious charges in Virginia’s courts, in Fairfax and across Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun, and Prince William, and he handles every case personally. If you or someone in your family is facing a felony charge, contact us to schedule a consultation and talk through where your case stands and what your options are.