Court level
57 % District · 43 % Circuit
Lisa Caruso
Defense counsel of record in 255 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025255
Lisa Caruso appeared as defense counsel of record in 255 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Prince William County · 153 cases
Most common charge
Drug Possession · 40
Across 128 resolved 2025 cases, 63% were dropped — 63 nolle prossed and 18 dismissed.
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 128 of 255. "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 22 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
2195%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
15%
0 acquittals · 1 convictions at trial.
Top charge — Drug Possession
Lisa Caruso's most common charge category in 2025 (40 cases of record · 18 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 Drug Possession page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Lisa Caruso'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 William County | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| Drug Possession | Fauquier County | 13 | 8 | 5 |
| Larceny / Theft | Prince William County | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| Drug Possession | Warren County | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Weapons Offense | Prince William County | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| DUI / DWI | Prince William County | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Failure to Appear | Prince William County | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | Prince William County | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Drug Distribution | Prince William County | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Grand Larceny | Prince William County | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Property Destruction | Prince William County | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Contempt of Court | Prince William County | 3 | 0 | 3 |
See also
Drug Possession outcomes in Prince William County — every attorney's 2025 outcomes for Drug Possession cases in Prince William 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.
Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii
6
Driving Under Revocation/Suspension
1
DWI, First Offense
1
Enter Property To Damage
1
Petit Larceny
1
Petit Larceny
1
Possession of Controlled Substances
1
Reg Viol; Not Tier Iii
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince William County | 153 | 98 | 55 |
| Fauquier County | 44 | 31 | 13 |
| Frederick County | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Warren County | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Arlington County | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Spotsylvania County | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Fredericksburg | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Stafford County | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Winchester | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Lisa Caruso appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 118 | 67 | 20 | 45 | 2 |
| Drug Possession | 40 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| Larceny / Theft | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Failure to Appear | 10 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Traffic Infraction | 10 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| DUI / DWI | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Weapons Offense | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Drug Distribution | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Larceny | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Prince William County
Listed by case volume in Prince William County, 2025.
| Attorney | Prince William County cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Branca | 419 | 434 |
| David Daugherty | 383 | 383 |
| William Pickett | 349 | 588 |
| Joseph Mcguire | 298 | 318 |
| Matthew Morrison | 259 | 336 |
| Brian Roman | 258 | 258 |
| Erin Ford | 250 | 253 |
| Amy Hermansen | 229 | 229 |
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.
Lisa Caruso appeared as defense counsel of record in 255 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 145 in District Court and 110 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Prince William County, with 153 of 255 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Lisa Caruso's case record was Drug Possession (40 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 128 resolved cases: 26% convicted of original charge (33), 63% dropped (81 = 63 nolle prossed + 18 dismissed), 11% reduced to a lesser charge (14), 0% acquitted (0). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 22 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), 21 (95%) resolved by guilty plea and 1 (5%) went to trial — 0 acquittals and 1 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 William 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. "Lisa Caruso — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/lisa-caruso. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly. For statewide outcome context, see the 2025 Virginia Criminal Court Outcomes report.