Beat The Prosecution- Fairfax, Virginia, Criminal Defense / DUI Lawyer

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Fairfax, Virginia, criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first met international relations expert and five-book author Abiodun Williams when they were university students. When Jon Katz at that first sit down mentioned all the very important things left to learn on his path, Abi summed up the right approach perfectly: "Information overload." Abi clearly has dealt with his share of expansive data and other information and writings, having tackled demanding obligations starting in his student years, followed by overseas peacemaking and conflict resolution missions, working with United Nations secretaries general, serving at a high level...

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This week’s podcast guest is Joseph Margulies, an accomplished civil rights litigator, author of three books and many online articles, and Cornell University professor. Joe was counsel of record in Supreme Court litigation that established the right of Guantanamo inmates and Americans detained abroad by American forces to challenge their detentions. He describes one of his current clients as having been “imprisoned and tortured in CIA black sites.”

Joe and Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz graduated from their respective law schools a year apart. Joe's father, Irv, was a great lawyer...

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Storytelling is a key part of persuading in court. In this Beat the Prosecution episode, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz interviews one of his favorite storytellers, Danny Schnitzlein,  who penned The Monster Who Ate My Peas, which was the centerpiece of hundreds of bedtime stories told to Jon's son. 

Danny gives a fascinating look at his storytelling process, the key elements to a great story, and his continued connection with his inner child that enables his addressing fear and humor. 

Jon Katz  includes addressing the feeling aspect of stories, the...

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Many times, Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz  has quoted this great passage from the Kung Fu television pilot with David Carradine as a Shaolin priest (1972): “Perceive the way of nature and no force of man can harm you. Do not meet a wave head on: avoid it. You do not have to stop force: it is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve rather than destroy. Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be...

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Psychodrama plays a major role at the Trial Lawyers College that Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz attended for a full month in 1995. Psychodrama was founded by Jacob L Moreno and taught and pursued in depth by him and his wife Zerka. 

Jon Katz is delighted in this Beat the Prosecution episode to be joined by J.L. Moreno's son Jonathan, and Jon Katz's fellow criminal defense attorney Christopher Flohr, also a TLC alum and a proponent of psychodrama. 

Here, Jonathan Moreno addresses the roots of psychodrama in working wi...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz's go-to lawyers for referrals for District of Columbia criminal defense are Michael Bruckheim and Sweta Patel at Bruckheim & Patel. Sweta and Mike regularly refer potential Virginia criminal and DWI defense clients to Jon Katz. Jon's confidence in Michael and Sweta arises from their consistently strong defense work, caring for their clients, and powerfully optimistic zeal. 

In this Beat the Prosecution podcast episode, you will hear Jon, Sweta and Mike talk in unvarnished terms about the strengths and weaknesses of the criminal justice system, and how to p...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz last month joined several hundred attendees at the Boone, NC, Ram Dass mountain legacy retreat. The experience was wonderful, with people connecting at the heart and soul level, in the beautiful mountains and clean air. Our last podcast episode features Raghu Markus, the executive director of the Ram Dass Love Serve Remember Foundation. 

Among those on stage at this Boone mountain retreat was Nina Rao, who with a beyond beautiful voice chants mantra, sings, and shares her essence. Nina is the yin to the yang of d...

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After attending a great mid-August mountain retreat celebrating Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) with several hundred people -- complete with kirtan with Krishna Das (lead singer of the precursor to Blue Oyster Cult), Nina Rao, David Nichtern (who wrote "Midnight at the Oasis", for starters) and more; talks by Robert Thurman and more; and a deep rapport with many -- Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz returned from the mountains and found himself repeating old patterns in dealing with such challenges as tailgating drivers. 

Three weeks later, Jon Katz joined his f...

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When Fairfax criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz joined with Ramsey Clark in defending the Plowshares activists for their 2000 criminal jury trial for their depleted uranium action, one of the group's supporters suggested getting ideas from lawyer David Walsh-Little , who served as standby trial counsel to the  Gods of Metal Plowshares Five in 1998. In the interim, Jon instead consulted with another lawyer who had defended a slew of political activists. 

Now, twenty-five years later, Jon Katz for the first time talks with David Walsh-Little, about winning with a devotion to true ju...

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Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's teacher Gerry Spence lived until 96 years, and transitioned from his body on August 13, 2025. Gerry has had a profound and lifelong impact on Jon Katz's personal and professional lives, as he has had on thousands of people's lives. 

Great public defender lawyer Shalev Ben-Avraham in this episode joins Jon Katz in diving deep in illustrating the great gifts from Gerry and in deeply thanking and bowing to him. 

No liner note substitute exists for listening to what Jon and Shalev have to say in...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz started law school seeing the glass as more half empty than full when it came to protecting people's Constitutional rights and civil liberties. That situation began shifting as Jon Katz learned about the many people around him who not only were fighting like hell for the side of justice, but who refused to depart from their optimism. 

One of those lawyers is Gerald Zerkin. Jerry's name became more well known with his helping to get Earl Washington, Jr., off death row with DNA analysis. Then, Jerry b...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz one day Googled for other lawyers practicing martial arts, and came upon David Kaufman of KarateLaw.com . Now, several years later, Jon Katz speaks to David (now retired from law practice and serving as an expert witness and business security consultant) about applying martial arts experience and knowledge to criminal defense and to the practice of law generally, benefitting from the regular practice of martial arts, and keeping our wits and summoning our calmness during our legal battles. 

David has devoted years to learning and practicing j...

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Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz daily practices the martial art of taijiquan / t'ai chi ch'uan Yang style short form, also known as Cheng Man Ch'ing (CMC) taijiquan form. This episode introduces our third taijiquan teacher, after previously introducing you to Jon Katz's vitally important teacher Julian Chu (a student of CMC senior student Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo, several of whose weekend training classes Jon has attended), and Len Kennedy, who is one of two lawyers who has inspired Jon on the taijiquan path. 

Taijiquan is vitally important to Jon. Courtroom d...

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Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that acquittals are great and often exhilarating, but trials can also bring risks. On this Beat the Prosecution episode, Jon Katz talks on his own about the art of obtaining favorable plea or settlement deals, which need to be backed up by the threat and strength of trial readiness. 

Settlements can only be earned, but are never owed to a criminal defendant.  Many Virginia criminal and DUI defendants expect to be offered a plea deal, and want it to be a desirable plea deal. Ho...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that it is not radical to protest, but instead is among our rights under the Bill of Rights. As an undergraduate alum of Tufts University, Jon Katz opened his eyes and ears all the more to the plight of Rümeysa Öztürk, who is not known to have written or said anything more radical than the decidedly non-radical op-ed she co-authored with three others in the Tufts  Daily. 

Ms. Öztürk has a great team of lawyers -- including our interviewee Mahsa Khanbabai -- and she...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows the importance of reducing not only conviction and sentencing risks in Virginia criminal court, but also to minimize adverse collateral consequences from court outcomes. Jon Katz has interviewed some immigration lawyers on our Beat the Prosecution podcast to address immigration risks from criminal case outcomes. This episode is the first one to have a lawyer tell about risks about traveling outside the United States with a criminal conviction or the equivalent, with Canada being the topic of this episode. 

Enter Canadian crimmigration attorney Marisa Feil, w...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz strongly dissents from the Trump administration's revoking of the Biden administration's policy of rarely making immigration arrests at courthouses other than for essentially exigent circumstances, lest undocumented people stay away from courthouses when criminal defendants, civil litigants, and witnesses. Separation of powers and federalism also favor no courthouse immigration arrests. "Nobody is above the law" oversimplifies this entire matter, as covered by this podcast episode, with Milwaukee lawyer Stephen Kravit as our guest, to explain the realities over the below-detailed incident involving Judge Hannah Dugan, and how to...

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Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz derives tremendous inspiration in his courtroom work from teacher Robert Thurman, for his humor, caring realness, great storytelling ability, and certainly his genius in conveying Buddhist, mindfulness and spiritual ideas in a way that draws in the audience. 

In this episode of Beat the Prosecution, Jon Katz goes beyond what has already been written about Bob, to find out what energizes and inspires him to be the great person and teacher that he is. 

Bob's story is fascinating, to say the least. In hi...

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Bethesda lawyer Carolyn Elefant is a trailblazing lawyer. Not being cut out to conform to law firm life, she decided thirty years ago to strike out on her own. For decades and counting, she has shared her pearls of wisdom and encouragement -- including in her book Solo By Choice -- for lawyers to consider becoming their own bosses, and to thrive as solo and small firm practitioners. At first, Carolyn's focus on energy law might sound establishmentarian, until you hear here about her repeated representation of the underdog threatened with eminent domain...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that we are at the moment of truth for standing up to Donald Trump's onslaught against non-United States citizens, lawyers and law firms, and higher education. If not, we will face the discomfort of younger generations in the future asking what we did to raise our voices to all this injustice flying from all directions in this period in American government. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is among the groups at the forefront of challenging such a state of affairs, with FIRE having a...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz learned early in his trial career about the critical role of persuasive storytelling, executed throughout the trial, and not only in opening and closing. Jon Katz in this first Beat the Prosecution episode in a year without a guest, illustrates how he won an assault trial by supporting his client's alibi by illustrating the alleged assault's happening in Club Blah, where the defendant at the time was in Club Ah, and could not bring himself to stepping foot in Club Blah any more than he could bring himself...

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In 2015, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz finished court early enough to rush over to the Mindful Leadership conference in Arlington, eager to meet such great teachers as Roshi Joan Halifax, Jim Dethmer and Rhonda Magee. Sold out, said a front desk person. A woman overheard my asking what I could do about that, and she sold me her extra ticket. 

This conference was so good that it would have been worth flying coast-to-coast for such an experience. Learning applications of mindfulness to my life and work are very important. Among the b...

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Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz named this podcast Beat the Prosecution in sync with his teacher SunWolf's watchword that reality is no obstacle. By shooting for the stars, great outcomes be achieved in court. Nonetheless, plenty of criminal defendants get convicted, requiring all criminal defense lawyers to be great at sentencing. 

Recently, Jon Katz's fellow criminal defense lawyer Bret Lee told Jon of his and lawyer Marvin Miller's Northern Virginia federal criminal defense client Felicia Donald, saying she was willing to be on Jon's podcast. Dr. Donald is a physician w...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first met local highly-regarded immigration / crimmigration lawyer Ofelia Calderon (Merrifield, Fairfax, Virginia) nearly 20 years ago at a Cinco de Mayo celebration, introduced by Jon's then law partner Jay Marks who subsequently became Ofelia's law partner for a few years. Ofelia is the third immigration lawyer on this Beat the Prosecution podcast, and for good reason, with Ofelia being the first immigration lawyer to join us after Donald Trump returned to the White House and unleashed a slew of unfriendly, dangerous and often downright civil liberties- and due process-violating...

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South Dakota trial lawyer Charles Abourezk has a compelling story as a lawyer and beyond that role. He grew up on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, and advocated for Indian Americans before and after law school. He represented indigenous people's interests at the United Nations. He produced and directed radio and television programming concerning Native Americans. 

Charlie is Chief Justice of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Supreme Court in South Dakota; Justice of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Appellate Court; Justice of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Appellate Court; and Special Jud...

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Every criminal defense and other trial lawyer faces the possible moment of truth about how to handle an unjust judicial directive. This week's guest Rosa Eliades -- along with lead counsel Richard Kammen (who wore a kangaroo pin to Guantanamo court and has pointed words about the military commissions), and co-counsel Mary Spears -- in 2017 obtained approval from now-former Marine criminal defense Brigadier General John Baker to withdraw as civilian defense lawyers for Guantanamo defendant Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Al-Nashiri, due to their not receiving judicial authorization to share critical but classified evidence...

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One of the two founders of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education -- Harvey Silverglate -- figured the group might no last much past ten years beyond its 1999 founding. Instead, Silverglate, describes the group -- renamed Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression  -- as having filled the gap that was left when the ACLU became more of a progressive organization and less of a free expression protector.

Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz first met criminal defense and civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate over twenty years ago through t...

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In this Beat the Prosecution episode, Fairfax, Virginia, criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jon Katz talks with the fifth public defender lawyer to be on this podcast. Arlington County, Virginia, senior public defender Michael Cash is a true believer in his clients and his work. His successful law school application to the University of Virginia Law School proclaimed his goal to do indigent criminal defense work. His story is riveting, including how he does public defender work for his profession, and public defender work on his free time. 

Michael recognizes that being a...

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"I lucked out with getting interviewed by a great host." Those are the words of this episode's guest Fredilyn "Fredi" Sison, upon speaking for the first time on a podcast. 

Fairfax, Northern Virginia, criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz has known Fredi for years. Jon Katz and Fredi Sison are both graduates -- from separate years -- of the multi-week Trial Lawyers College, when the TLC was still at Gerry Spence's beautiful Thunderhead Ranch, outside Dubois, Wyoming, before the schism that led to the TLC's operating elsewhere. Fredi for years taught a...

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For the first time on Fairfax, northern Virginia criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's podcast, we have one of his former clients joining us. Susan Crane has engaged in four Plowshares peace actions and calculates that she has spent nearly a total of seven years of her life in jails and prisons. 

Jon Katz was honored to have co-counseled with Ramsey Clark and Anabel Dwyer in defending Susan, Jesuit Father Stephen Kelly, Elizabeth Walz, and Father Philip Berrigan in Susan's third Plowshares action, in 1999 hammering on two A-10 military aircraft, to c...

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Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz knows the benefit of mindfulness and meditative practice to beating the prosecution and to living a great life. Jon Katz's main mindfulness practice is taijiquan / t'ai chi chu'an yang style short form (also known as 37 posture Cheng Man Ch'ing / CMC taijiquan). Jon has also been involved with lawyers mindfulness gatherings. Jon also benefits from the practice of Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono. This practice helps develop razor sharp focus, deep listening, and clearing out one's internal gunk. Right here in the nation's capital area are...

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Lawyers were two of Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's early inspirations on the taijiquan / tai ch'i ch'uan path, those being the late Victor Crawford and this episode's guest, Leonard "Len" J. Kennedy. Vic was an energetic and engaging lawyer, who early in Jon Katz's criminal defense career told about his years-long practice of this martial art. Seeking a personal breakthrough, a few years later, Jon asked Vic to recommend a taijiquan teacher. 

Victor mailed Jon pamphlets about several teachers, including Glen Echo taijiquan. There, Jon learned from Ellen a...

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Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz's first client visit to a jail was with his law professor and immigration legal clinic director Paul Grussendorf. Jon Katz's first two trials were also with Paul, one a deportation hearing for that jailed client after he had gotten convicted for importation of two kilos of cocaine into the United States, and the other for an Ethiopian client who had found safe haven in Zimbabwe and then flew to the United States, when U.S. immigration policy disfavored forum shopping for safe havens and political asylum after already...

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In mid-December 2024, Denmark released Captain Paul Watson (co-founder of Greenpeace, and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) after five months of captivity in an apartment-like incarceration setting in Greenland, when Denmark ultimately declined to extradite him to Japan for a matter about which Captain Watson asserts his innocence.

Three weeks after Captain Watson's release, Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz had the privilege to spend an hour with him on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, covering such topics as risking detention and prosecution for what we deeply believe...

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Marijuana in large part accelerated Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz's transition from working at a corporate law firm to becoming a criminal defense lawyer many years ago. Jon Katz one day read about a federal prosecutor's issuance of a subpoena for High Times Magazine's advertiser records. Jon figured that the prosecutor was going after customers of hydroponic indoor marijuana growers. In protest, Jon took out a subscription to High Times, and told the same by letter to the then-federal attorney general and High Times. As a result of that subscription, Jon learned about...

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Great criminal defense is like delivering clients excellent results while balanced on a pinnacle thousands of feet above the ground below. For that reason, Fairfax criminal / Virginia DUI attorney Jon Katz has invited Zen priest and former New York City emergency room physician Wendy Dainin Lau, M.D., who went from computer technology to medical school, and, after burnout, to the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe.

Effective criminal defense lawyers in so many ways are like emergency room physicians, single-mindedly reaching out to their patients as verbal bows and arrows...

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Criminal defense lawyers must hang together lest they hang separately. Northern Virginia lawyer Sameera Ali accepted an Alexandria Juvenile & Domestic Relations (JDR) Court request to represent an indigent defendant (for abysmally low pay), let the court know she was not available on the then-pending court date, got the prosecutor's office on board for seeking a very brief court date rescheduling to when Ms. Ali was available, and instead got issued a show cause notice to appear in the same court to address why she should not be held in jailable contempt of court. <...

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Now that marijuana has become heavily decriminalized in Virginia and beyond, Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz sees drug reform and protecting adults' right to choose their consensual sexual activity as critical to protecting everyone's civil liberties.  Joining us for this Beat the Prosecution podcast episode are Woodhull Freedom Foundation president and CEO Ricci Levy, and WFF general counsel and First Amendment defense lawyer Lawrence G. Walters. John has known these two guests for many years. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation's website presents the group's mission as affirming sexual freedom as a f...

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"Aspiring full time anti-racist" is how senior Fairfax public defender lawyer Bryan T. Kennedy describes himself on his Twitter page. In this episode of Beat the Prosecution, Bryan joins Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz in discussing how to beat the prosecution both in court and through out-of-court action, action, and more action, including with strength in numbers and having a great team of lawyers and non-lawyers.

Bryan is a founding member of Justice Forward Virginia , which has made huge inroads in bringing Virginia out of its capital punishment...

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Fairfax criminal and DWI lawyer Jonathan Katz heard Abbie Hoffman's lawyer Gerald Lefcourt speak in 1991 about how Abbie had asked Gerry to keep Hoffman out of jail so that he could keep pursuing his agenda. At that moment, Jon wondered whether he had missed the boat on the days of defending activists. Nine years later, Jon teamed with Ramsey Clark to defend the Plowshares 4 at their 2000 criminal jury trial following their action against depleted uranium, and Ramsey mentioned there being plenty of interesting activists to defend when doing so for free.

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