Court level
59 % District · 41 % Circuit
Joseph M Garrett
Defense counsel of record in 123 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025123
Joseph M Garrett appeared as defense counsel of record in 123 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Danville · 86 cases
Most common charge
Assault & Battery · 13
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 102 of 123. "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 · Circuit Court
Of 33 Circuit Court cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial. General District Court records do not distinguish a guilty plea from a bench-trial conviction, so this record is limited to Circuit Court, where the distinction is recorded.
Pled guilty
2988%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
412%
2 acquittals · 2 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
50%
2 of 4 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Assault & Battery
Joseph M Garrett's most common charge category in 2025 (13 cases of record · 13 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 Assault & Battery page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Joseph M Garrett'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault & Battery | Danville | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Drug Possession | Danville | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| DUI / DWI | Danville | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Larceny / Theft | Danville | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Probation Violation | Pittsylvania County | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Reckless Driving | Danville | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Weapons Offense | Danville | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | Pittsylvania County | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Fraud / Forgery | New Kent County | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Property Destruction | Danville | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Sex Offense | Danville | 3 | 0 | 3 |
See also
Assault & Battery outcomes in Danville — every attorney's 2025 outcomes for Assault & Battery cases in Danville, using the same definitions as above.
Reduction targets
When the original charge was reduced, the case was most often resolved as one of the following lesser charges.
Defective Speedometer
2
DWI, Second Offense
2
Driv W/Revoked Lic Not Endang
1
DWI, First Offense
1
Improper Driving
1
Murder: 2nd Degree
1
Not Reprt Accident;Dam <=$1000
1
Petit Larc <$1000 Not Frm Pers
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danville | 86 | 56 | 30 |
| Pittsylvania County | 25 | 11 | 14 |
| New Kent County | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Martinsville | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Henry County | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Halifax County | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Roanoke County | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Joseph M Garrett appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 29 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 2 |
| Assault & Battery | 13 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Traffic Infraction | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| DUI / DWI | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Drug Possession | 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Probation Violation | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reckless Driving | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Larceny / Theft | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Weapons Offense | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Sex Offense | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Danville
Listed by case volume in Danville, 2025.
| Attorney | Danville cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Eisner | 329 | 623 |
| M Lee Smallwood | 307 | 307 |
| Baker Williams | 295 | 366 |
| William C Meyer | 251 | 492 |
| Brent Shelton | 209 | 270 |
| Yerisbel Jimenez | 193 | 193 |
| Daniel Rouleau | 192 | 396 |
| Joseph H M Schenk | 166 | 180 |
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.
Joseph M Garrett appeared as defense counsel of record in 123 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 72 in District Court and 51 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Danville, with 86 of 123 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Joseph M Garrett's case record was Assault & Battery (13 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 102 resolved cases: 38% convicted of original charge (39), 40% dropped (41 = 24 nolle prossed + 17 dismissed), 12% reduced to a lesser charge (12), 10% acquitted (10). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 33 Circuit Court cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict (Circuit Court is the only level where Virginia records distinguish a guilty plea from a bench-trial conviction), 29 (88%) resolved by guilty plea and 4 (12%) went to trial — 2 acquittals and 2 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. Last updated July 8, 2026.
This page shows the 2025 public slice of the record — cases meeting the publication threshold, aggregated by counsel of record. Attorneys can commission an Annual Practice Review from VCF Intelligence — the complete attributed record, with peer benchmarks, venue-by-venue outcomes, and officer and prosecutor patterns. Corrections to this page go through the correction form.
Looking for representation in Danville? 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. "Joseph M Garrett — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/joseph-m-garrett. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed July 8, 2026. For statewide outcome context, see the 2025 Virginia Criminal Court Outcomes report.