Criminal Defense Lawyer in Virginia Beach

Are you looking for a criminal defense lawyer in Virginia Beach?

If so, Attorney Matthew Barbero is a criminal defense lawyer in Virginia Beach who handles both misdemeanors and felonies. This section here is dealing exclusively with criminal misdemeanors.

You might be wondering the possible punishments for misdemeanors in Virginia? 

In Virginia there are four different classes of misdemeanors, each varying in degrees of potential punishment. VA Code § 18.2-11 outlines the four different classes of misdemeanors: 

“The authorized punishments for conviction of a misdemeanor are:

(a) For Class 1 misdemeanors, confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.

(b) For Class 2 misdemeanors, confinement in jail for not more than six months and a fine of not more than $1,000, either or both.

(c) For Class 3 misdemeanors, a fine of not more than $500.

(d) For Class 4 misdemeanors, a fine of not more than $250.” 

If you are reading this right now and you are charged with a class 1 misdemeanor then you might be freaking out thinking something like, “I am charged with the most severe class of misdemeanor in the state of Virginia!” If you are feeling that, do NOT freak out. Why do I say that? I say that because the vast majority of all criminal misdemeanors in Virginia are charged as class 1 misdemeanors, so you are in very good company. It is actually rare for someone to be charged with a misdemeanor that is a class 2, 3, or 4; almost all criminal misdemeanors in Virginia are class 1 misdemeanors. Please note that each of the above maximum punishments are per charge; therefore, if you currently have multiple charges then you face the above maximum punishments per each of the separate charges. Please also note that just because you could get the above maximum punishments it does not mean that you will get those. You could beat the charges altogether and get them dismissed. You could also be found guilty and not get any active jail time, so long as the charge does not have a mandatory minimum jail sentence. Generally speaking most criminal misdemeanors in Virginia do not have mandatory minimum jail sentences. Your lawyer will know whether a charge has a mandatory minimum sentence, but as I said the vast majority of misdemeanors in Virginia do not have mandatory minimums. 

So how serious are misdemeanor convictions? Well, they are not nearly as serious as felonies. It is less common for a job application to ask you whether you have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor. However, many jobs still run criminal background checks and misdemeanor convictions would show up on those. Generally speaking you do not lose your firearm rights for misdemeanor convictions; there are a few exceptions such as Domestic Assault and Battery misdemeanor convictions. Generally, any and all misdemeanor convictions in Virginia stay on your record for life. There are a few narrow exceptions such as a governor pardoning you. Generally any and all misdemeanor convictions are never sealed from your record. Generally speaking misdemeanor convictions are never expungable. Note that the law might change on all of the above (and there are some rumblings of that) but as of now you can assume a misdemeanor conviction in Virginia stays on your criminal record until the day you die, so that is why criminal misdemeanor convictions are still serious.