Source. Virginia DCIS + CIS, 2025 Methodology Report a correction Last refreshed May 2, 2026
Cases of record · 2025486

Mark Branca appeared as defense counsel of record in 486 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.

Court level
48 % District · 52 % Circuit
Primary jurisdiction
Prince William County · 467 cases
Most common charge
Failure to Appear · 40

Across 271 resolved 2025 cases, 55% were dropped — 122 nolle prossed and 27 dismissed.

Case outcomes

Resolved cases — 271 of 486. "Resolved" means a final disposition was reached. Pending cases and probation revocations are excluded.

Convicted of original charge
90
33%
Dropped
149
55%
Nolle prossed
122
Dismissed
27
Reduced to a lesser charge
24
9%
To Improper Driving
3
Within charge family
21
Acquitted
8
3%

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 122 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial.

Pled guilty
11090%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
1210%
8 acquittals · 4 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
67%
8 of 12 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.

Top charge — Failure to Appear

Mark Branca's most common charge category in 2025 (40 cases of record · 39 resolved). Outcomes use the same definitions as the overall view.

Convicted of original charge
21
54%
Dropped
18
46%
Reduced to a lesser charge
0
0%

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

Mark Branca'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
Failure to Appear Prince William County 40 27 13
Larceny / Theft Prince William County 39 28 11
Burglary / B&E Prince William County 29 1 28
Weapons Offense Prince William County 28 6 22
Assault & Battery Prince William County 19 11 8
Drug Possession Prince William County 17 16 1
Drug Distribution Prince William County 15 0 15
Grand Larceny Prince William County 13 1 12
DUI / DWI Prince William County 10 6 4
Property Destruction Prince William County 9 8 1
Trespassing Prince William County 9 9 0
Obstruction Prince William County 8 7 1

Each row links to Mark Branca'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.

Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii
6
Assault & Battery
3
Disorderly Conduct
2
Manslaughter: Voluntary
2
Assault & Battery
1
Domestic Assault & Battery
1
Fail To Stop/ Accident - Misd.
1
Gang: Adult Partic W/ Juv
1

Where cases were heard

Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.

Jurisdiction Cases District Circuit
Prince William County 467 217 250
King George County 8 8 0
Stafford County 5 3 2
Alexandria 3 0 3
Shenandoah County 3 3 0

Case mix by charge

Charge categories Mark Branca appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.

Charge category Cases Resolved Convicted Dropped Reduced
Other 184 90 21 51 11
Failure to Appear 40 39 21 18 0
Larceny / Theft 39 22 8 14 0
Burglary / B&E 29 8 7 1 0
Weapons Offense 29 15 6 9 0
Assault & Battery 22 14 5 7 1
Drug Possession 17 12 0 5 7
Drug Distribution 15 10 1 8 1
Grand Larceny 13 5 2 3 0
DUI / DWI 11 5 4 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)
Taylor Sanders 530 548
William Pickett 491 499
Taso Saunders 482 542
Joseph Mcguire 439 453
David Daugherty 421 421
Erin Ford 420 427
Brian Roman 353 353
Jeremiah Adair 298 298

View all attorneys with cases in Prince William County →

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.

Mark Branca appeared as defense counsel of record in 486 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 231 in District Court and 255 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Prince William County, with 467 of 486 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Mark Branca's case record was Failure to Appear (40 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 271 resolved cases: 33% convicted of original charge (90), 55% dropped (149 = 122 nolle prossed + 27 dismissed), 9% reduced to a lesser charge (24), 3% acquitted (8). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 122 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, 110 (90%) resolved by guilty plea and 12 (10%) went to trial — 8 acquittals and 4 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. "Mark Branca — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/mark-branca. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.

Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly.