Top Rated Criminal Defense Attorney in Prince William County, Virginia
Meet Steve Duckett
Meet Steve Duckett
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I became a lawyer because of uh To Kill
a Mocking Bird um we read To Kill a
Mockingbird my sophomore year in high
school uh we then watched the movie and
I decided right there and then that I
wanted to be attakus fch and that’s what
I’ve done I every decision that I made
in my life from that moment forward led
me to this point uh I’ve been practicing
criminal defense law for 20 7 years all
I have ever done is criminal defense
I’ve never been one of those lawyers
that does you a whole bunch of little
different things all I’ve ever done is
criminal defense and it’s because of
that
[Music]
movie dealing with prosecutors is just
like dealing with anybody I mean they’re
people too they’ve got similar
backgrounds to me so even though we’re
adversarial uh I don’t really treat them
like the enemy um you know more sort of
like a colleague that we’re just having
a conversation about a case the biggest
thing is laying groundwork with your
reputation with a prosecutor and the the
most important piece of reputation that
a prosecutor needs to know about you is
that you’re not afraid to try a case if
you come in like many lawyers do
unfortunately just sort of with their
hands out hoping to accept the best deal
possible before you even start talking
about a case that’s a position of
weakness because that tells the
prosecutor that you’re not looking to
try the case you just want to walk out
of there as quickly as you can so you
can make a lunch date if they know that
you’re not afraid to pack a lunch and
sit there all day and try a
case um you know that changes the
dynamic pretty considerably um because
now they’re taking you seriously as an
adversary and they understand that if
they want a full conviction they’re
going to have to work for it so if they
want something at all you get better
deals
that way if they know that there’s a
trial ahead of them if they don’t give
you what you want so I I sort of have
just an it’s an Unwritten rule but
unless there’s a very compelling reason
I never have a client plead to the
charge as it’s written um they have to
give me something for that and it
usually has to be something pretty
considerable if we’re not getting any
benefit then I’m going to make you earn
it and we’ll sit there for two hours and
try a DUI and sure we might lose but you
know now you’ve you’ve had to work extra
hard and you’re a government employee
you’re on a salary it doesn’t matter how
many case you try or don’t so over the
course of time I feel like that adds up
and if they know you’re going to be a
pain in their butt um then you know that
tends to get you better results for your
client
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Manassas, VA criminal defense attorney Steve Duckett talks about why he became a lawyer and how he deals with prosecutors.
