Is Your Lawyer Waiving Your Rights?!

If you’re charged with a crime in Virginia, you have the right to confront the witnesses against you. If there’s a scientific certificate of analysis at issue in the case, your confrontation right includes the people who actually did the analysis.

But did you know that your lawyer could waive that right without you even knowing?

The Virginia Court of Appeals just decided Whitehurst v. Commonwealth (PDF), which examined this issue.

In Whitehurst, the defendant tried to object to a certificate of analysis of cocaine in her drug trial. But the Commonwealth Attorney had properly filed its Notice of Intent, which triggered a 14-day deadline for the defense to demand the presence of the actual lab examiner at trial.

Whitehurst’s attorney didn’t object to the certificate coming into evidence during that 14-day window. Because of that failure to act, the defendant’s right to confront the lab technician was deemed waived.

The scary part is that Whitehurst testified that her attorney never discussed this issue with her. While trial strategy is ultimately the attorney’s decision, we are required to discuss those strategies with our clients.

When selecting an attorney, you definitely want someone who will discuss important rights with you and advise you on the best courses of action. Be sure to give lawyers my lawyer quiz when interviewing them:

Photo by Alain Bachellier