Court level
85 % District · 15 % Circuit
Linwood Wells
Defense counsel of record in 1,041 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 20251,041
Linwood Wells appeared as defense counsel of record in 1,041 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Chesterfield County · 429 cases
Most common charge
Larceny / Theft · 134
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 687 of 1,041. "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 83 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
6882%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
1518%
4 acquittals · 11 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
27%
4 of 15 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Larceny / Theft
Linwood Wells's most common charge category in 2025 (134 cases of record · 94 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 Larceny / Theft page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Linwood Wells'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larceny / Theft | Chesterfield County | 65 | 65 | 0 |
| Drug Possession | Chesterfield County | 53 | 53 | 0 |
| Larceny / Theft | Hanover County | 47 | 43 | 4 |
| Weapons Offense | Chesterfield County | 42 | 41 | 1 |
| Drug Possession | Hanover County | 39 | 24 | 15 |
| Failure to Appear | Hanover County | 28 | 21 | 7 |
| Fraud / Forgery | Chesterfield County | 26 | 26 | 0 |
| Failure to Appear | Chesterfield County | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Failure to Appear | Dinwiddie County | 22 | 18 | 4 |
| Driving Suspended | Dinwiddie County | 21 | 15 | 6 |
| Larceny / Theft | Dinwiddie County | 21 | 16 | 5 |
| Sex Offense | Hanover County | 20 | 10 | 10 |
See also
Larceny / Theft outcomes in Chesterfield County — every attorney's 2025 outcomes for Larceny / Theft cases in Chesterfield County, 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.
Failure to Carry/Exhibit License
6
No Driver's License
6
Drug Paraphernalia
5
No Driver's License
4
Unauthorized Possession of Paraphernalia
4
Assault & Battery
3
Carry Conceal Firearm
2
Drv After Illegl Consume Alcoh
2
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield County | 429 | 425 | 4 |
| Hanover County | 387 | 296 | 91 |
| Dinwiddie County | 218 | 156 | 62 |
| Henrico County | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| King William County | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| New Kent County | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Linwood Wells appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 290 | 198 | 73 | 97 | 25 |
| Larceny / Theft | 134 | 94 | 48 | 38 | 7 |
| Drug Possession | 106 | 45 | 15 | 21 | 9 |
| Failure to Appear | 75 | 60 | 43 | 13 | 0 |
| Weapons Offense | 58 | 32 | 10 | 17 | 4 |
| Reckless Driving | 44 | 37 | 26 | 5 | 6 |
| Driving Suspended | 41 | 28 | 20 | 4 | 4 |
| Probation Violation | 39 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | 36 | 30 | 6 | 19 | 3 |
| DUI / DWI | 35 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 |
Other attorneys with cases in Chesterfield County
Listed by case volume in Chesterfield County, 2025.
| Attorney | Chesterfield County cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Russell Bowles | 721 | 741 |
| Jose Aponte | 623 | 699 |
| Gregory Sheldon | 515 | 833 |
| Wayne Morgan | 335 | 828 |
| Stephen Sommers | 334 | 401 |
| Kristen Thornbrugh | 294 | 500 |
| Erin Ranney | 241 | 343 |
| Paul F Fantl | 234 | 419 |
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.
Linwood Wells appeared as defense counsel of record in 1,041 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 881 in District Court and 160 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Chesterfield County, with 429 of 1,041 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Linwood Wells's case record was Larceny / Theft (134 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 687 resolved cases: 44% convicted of original charge (306), 42% dropped (292 = 198 nolle prossed + 94 dismissed), 11% reduced to a lesser charge (76), 2% acquitted (13). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 83 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), 68 (82%) resolved by guilty plea and 15 (18%) went to trial — 4 acquittals and 11 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 Chesterfield 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. "Linwood Wells — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/linwood-wells. 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.