NewKnow Your Judge: the court-martial record of 294 military judges → NewLearn Your Lawyer: the court-martial record of 335 military lawyers →
Where All The Bodies Are Buried

Learn Your Lawyer · Army · Defense and Trial Counsel

John Overocker

Counsel of record in 26 courts-martial in the Military Trial Results data
(25 as defense counsel, 1 as trial counsel)
Feb 2023 to Jan 2026

26Cases
25As defense counsel
1As trial counsel
8Contested (not guilty or mixed plea)

As Defense Counsel (Defending)

Average Contests Per Year: 6

25Cases
8Contested
62%Acquitted, contested cases (5 of 8)
12%Partial acquittal, contested cases (1 of 8)

Pleas When Defending

  • Guilty17 (68%)
  • Not Guilty8 (32%)

Plea Agreements

  • Plea agreement16 (64%)
  • No plea agreement8 (32%)
  • Not reported1 (4%)

Who Decided the Case

  • Judge Alone17 (68%)
  • Enlisted Panel6 (24%)
  • Officer Panel2 (8%)

Contested Panel Cases: 8 of 8

  • Enlisted Panel6 of 8
  • Officer Panel2 of 8

Findings When Defending, All Cases

  • Convicted19 (76%)
  • Partial Acquittal1 (4%)
  • Acquitted5 (20%)

Contested Findings (Defending)

Decided ByCasesConvictedPartialAcquitted
Enlisted Panel6114
Officer Panel2101

Sentences When Defending

Enlisted (19 Convictions)

  • BCD9 of 19
  • DD7 of 19
  • No Punitive Discharge3 of 19

Officers and Warrant Officers (1 Conviction)

  • Dismissal1 of 1

No Punitive Discharge

3 of 19 Enlisted Convictions

  • Plea agreement2 of 3
  • No plea agreement0 of 3
  • Not reported1 of 3

Member Retained: 0 of 1 Officer Conviction

  • No dismissal0 of 1
84%Punitive discharge, enlisted (16 of 19)
95%Confinement (19 of 20 convictions)
1.3 yrsMedian confinement
35.0 yrsLongest confinement

UCMJ Articles When Defending

ArticleCasesContestedConvictedAcquitted
Art. 128b Domestic violence9181
Art. 134 General article8371
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation5241
Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault4413
Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer4140
Art. 128 Assault3212
Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child2120
Art. 121 Larceny2020
Art. 82 Soliciting2020
Art. 107 False official statements1010

As Trial Counsel (Prosecuting)

Average Contests Per Year: 0

1Cases
0Contested
—Acquitted, contested cases (none)
—Partial acquittal, contested cases (none)

Pleas When Prosecuting

  • Guilty1 (100%)

Plea Agreements

  • Plea agreement1 (100%)
  • No plea agreement0 (0%)

Who Decided the Case

  • Judge Alone1 (100%)

Findings When Prosecuting, All Cases

  • Convicted1 (100%)

Contested Findings (Prosecuting)

No contested cases

Sentences When Prosecuting

Enlisted (1 Conviction)

  • DD1 of 1

No Punitive Discharge

0 of 1 Enlisted Conviction

  • No punitive discharge0 of 1
100%Punitive discharge, enlisted (1 of 1)
100%Confinement (1 of 1 convictions)
20.6 yrsMedian confinement
20.6 yrsLongest confinement

UCMJ Articles When Prosecuting

ArticleCasesContestedConvictedAcquitted
Art. 118 Murder1010

Opposing Counsel, Most Cases

Where

  • Fort Polk 25
  • Fort Rucker 1

More Army Lawyers

Know Your Judge

Counsel of record means this lawyer is listed as defense counsel or trial counsel in the public record of the case. Most cases list more than one lawyer on each side, and the records do not say who led or who argued, so the numbers describe cases this lawyer was counsel on, not individual wins or losses. Pages cover military counsel only; civilian counsel appear in lists by name. Percentages are shown for every count, however small, so check the number of cases behind each one. The Army records say whether there was a plea agreement, not what it said; Air Force records do not report plea agreements, and many Air Force records from 2016 to 2020 do not list the plea. In the article tables one case counts under each article charged, and Air Force records rarely list the charges in cases that ended in acquittal (those show as Charges not listed in the record). Member Retained means the sentence did not include a punitive discharge; it does not rule out a later administrative separation. Mixed Plea* means the record lists a guilty plea but the case ended in a partial acquittal, so at least one charge was contested (a mixed plea, or a guilty plea to a lesser offense). Contested cases are those with a not guilty or mixed plea, plus any case that ended in an acquittal or partial acquittal even when the record does not list the plea.

Source: public records of trial published by each service under Article 140a, UCMJ, as collected for the Military Trial Results page (data updated October 29, 2026). Counts reflect only the cases in this data and may be incomplete. Names are shown as published in the source records.

To report an error, email content@bodiesburied.com.

↑ Top