Court level
56 % District · 44 % Circuit
Ashley Sterling
Defense counsel of record in 508 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025508
Ashley Sterling appeared as defense counsel of record in 508 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Prince Edward County · 238 cases
Most common charge
Failure to Appear · 50
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 309 of 508. "Resolved" means a final disposition was reached. Pending cases and probation revocations are excluded.
Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology. Convicted = guilty disposition on originally filed charge. Reduced = guilty disposition with non-empty amended charge. Dropped = nolle prosequi or dismissal. Acquitted = found not guilty at trial.
Plea vs trial
Of 160 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial.
Pled guilty
14892%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
128%
6 acquittals · 6 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
50%
6 of 12 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Failure to Appear
Ashley Sterling's most common charge category in 2025 (50 cases of record · 43 resolved). Outcomes use the same definitions as the overall view.
Acquittals are tracked at the overall level — the top-charge view shows the three primary disposition paths. See the Failure to Appear page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Ashley Sterling's most common charge × jurisdiction combinations in 2025. If your charge and county appear here, this attorney has handled cases like yours specifically — at the volume shown. Minimum 3 cases per row.
| Charge | Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Possession | Prince Edward County | 21 | 8 | 13 |
| Failure to Appear | Prince Edward County | 21 | 17 | 4 |
| Larceny / Theft | Prince Edward County | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| Weapons Offense | Buckingham County | 19 | 9 | 10 |
| Failure to Appear | Buckingham County | 14 | 9 | 5 |
| Weapons Offense | Prince Edward County | 13 | 8 | 5 |
| Failure to Appear | Cumberland County | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Trespassing | Prince Edward County | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| Drug Possession | Buckingham County | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| DUI / DWI | Prince Edward County | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Property Destruction | Prince Edward County | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| Fraud / Forgery | Buckingham County | 7 | 1 | 6 |
Each row links to Ashley Sterling's charge × jurisdiction page where outcomes for that combination are visible site-wide.
Reduction targets
When the original charge was reduced, the case was most often resolved as one of the following lesser charges.
Destruct Prop w/ Intentent <$1000
2
Driving Under Revocation/Suspension
2
Assault & Battery-Fam Member
1
Bad Check: Larceny < $1000
1
Contrib To Deliq Of Minor
1
Defective Equipment Generally
1
Distrib/Pwi/Accommodate Marij
1
Drive W/O License
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Edward County | 238 | 137 | 101 |
| Buckingham County | 129 | 78 | 51 |
| Cumberland County | 67 | 30 | 37 |
| Charlotte County | 47 | 30 | 17 |
| Appomattox County | 27 | 11 | 16 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Ashley Sterling appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 223 | 114 | 39 | 61 | 14 |
| Failure to Appear | 50 | 43 | 21 | 20 | 0 |
| Drug Possession | 46 | 24 | 13 | 10 | 0 |
| Weapons Offense | 42 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Larceny / Theft | 30 | 23 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
| DUI / DWI | 17 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 |
| Trespassing | 17 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Property Destruction | 16 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Assault & Battery | 14 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Fraud / Forgery | 13 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Prince Edward County
Listed by case volume in Prince Edward County, 2025.
| Attorney | Prince Edward County cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| James Ghee | 422 | 755 |
| Carter Allen | 289 | 564 |
| Marisa Robinson | 185 | 331 |
| Kevin Bailey | 117 | 503 |
| Matt Friedman | 76 | 95 |
| Matthew Friedman | 40 | 85 |
| Bradley Foster | 30 | 100 |
| John Marsden | 29 | 63 |
What this data does not show
- Retained matters not of court record — cases settled before formal counsel of record was entered
- Federal court cases — state-court records only
- Case facts, evidence quality, witness cooperation, or client circumstances
- Plea-versus-trial strategy, motion practice, or sentencing advocacy
- Quality of legal representation
- The 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church) Circuit Court is not in CIS — district-level cases for those three jurisdictions are included; circuit-level are not. See coverage notes.
Outcomes reflect the recorded facts of cases, not the quality of advocacy. Past outcomes do not predict future case results. For legal advice, consult a licensed Virginia attorney.
Common questions
Quick reference for journalists, researchers, and AI assistants citing this page.
Ashley Sterling appeared as defense counsel of record in 508 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 286 in District Court and 222 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Prince Edward County, with 238 of 508 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Ashley Sterling's case record was Failure to Appear (50 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 309 resolved cases: 40% convicted of original charge (125), 48% dropped (149 = 87 nolle prossed + 62 dismissed), 9% reduced to a lesser charge (29), 2% acquitted (6). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 160 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, 148 (92%) resolved by guilty plea and 12 (8%) went to trial — 6 acquittals and 6 convictions at trial.
Virginia District Court Information System (DCIS) and Circuit Court Information System (CIS), 2025 calendar year, direct extraction. Aggregated by defense counsel of record per the methodology. Refreshed quarterly. Last updated May 2, 2026.
Looking for representation in Prince Edward County? See VCF's free case-review process — qualified Virginia attorneys, matched on your charge and jurisdiction. Independent of any attorney featured on this page.
Methodology
Cases are counted by defense counsel of record as recorded in DCIS (district) and CIS (circuit). Outcomes use the strict definitions published at virginiacourtfile.com/methodology. Resolved includes only cases with final disposition codes (Guilty, Not Guilty, Dismissed, Nolle Prosequi). Convicted is a guilty disposition on the originally filed charge with no amended charge. Reduced is a guilty disposition with a non-empty amended charge field. Dropped combines Dismissed and Nolle Prosequi. Pending cases, certifications, and probation revocations are excluded from the outcome rates above.
Citation
VirginiaCourtFile.com. "Ashley Sterling — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/ashley-sterling. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly.