Criminal Law

Montgomery, Kelley & Dennett handles felonies and misdemeanors, to include probation violations in all courts in Williamsburg and the surrounding area.

Pat Kelley has practiced criminal law since his graduation from law school in 1983.  He has been a prosecutor, having served as a Deputy/Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Williamsburg/James City County, and has extensive experience as a defense attorney.  He has handled cases ranging from simple trespassing offenses to the most serious charges, such as capital murder.

Pat attributes his success as a criminal lawyer to 3 main factors:

  1. Preparation
  2. Experience
  3. Credibility

Preparation

Preparation would seem to be an obvious thing that any attorney representing a criminal defendant would take seriously.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  All too often attorneys stroll into court without having done their homework.  They haven’t filed discovery requests, they haven’t interviewed witnesses and they haven’t done any research on applicable laws and the rules of evidence.  Pat Kelley takes a great deal of pride in the fact that he has never walked into a courtroom unprepared.  He understands that every case, no matter how small, is important to his client and the client deserves to have an attorney who is prepared to aggressively litigate their case.

Experience

There is a line in an old country song that goes “You’ve got to know when to hold em, and know when to fold em…” This is so true for a criminal lawyer, and this is where Pat Kelley’s years of experiencepays off.  Quite simply, in preparing for trial a defense attorney has got to make a reasonable assessment of the strength of the prosecutions case.  He has to ask himself “Does the prosecutor have sufficient credible, admissible evidence to convict his client?”  If the case is strong, it may be that the best course of action is to explore a reasonable plea agreement.  However, if the case has weaknesses, it may be better to try the case with a jury.  Pat is one of the few attorneys in the Williamsburg area who has the expertise to try a criminal jury trial, and he has successfully represented numerous criminal defendants before a jury.

Credibility

The final factor that has contributed to Pat Kelley’s success as a criminal lawyer is the one that he is most proud – his credibility with the local judges.  Many years ago, when Pat first started in Williamsburg Commonwealth Attorney Office, a now retired Circuit Court Judge gave him this piece of advice – “Whatever else you do, never jeopardize your credibility with the court.”  That is a piece of advice that Pat has never forgotten.

If you have been charged with a crime, you need a smart, experienced, and confident defense lawyer. Contact Pat Kelley now.