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Learn Your Lawyer · Army · Defense Counsel

Patrick McCormick

Counsel of record in 27 courts-martial in the Military Trial Results data
(27 as defense counsel, 0 as trial counsel)
Sep 2022 to Jun 2024

27Cases
27As defense counsel
0As trial counsel
5Contested (not guilty or mixed plea)

As Defense Counsel (Defending)

Average Contests Per Year: 2.9

27Cases
5Contested
40%Acquitted, contested cases (2 of 5)
40%Partial acquittal, contested cases (2 of 5)

Pleas When Defending

  • Guilty22 (81%)
  • Not Guilty4 (15%)
  • Mixed Plea*1 (4%)

Plea Agreements

  • Plea agreement21 (78%)
  • No plea agreement4 (15%)
  • Not reported2 (7%)

Who Decided the Case

  • Judge Alone23 (85%)
  • Enlisted Panel3 (11%)
  • Officer Panel1 (4%)

Contested Panel Cases: 4 of 5

  • Enlisted Panel3 of 5
  • Officer Panel1 of 5

Findings When Defending, All Cases

  • Convicted23 (85%)
  • Partial Acquittal2 (7%)
  • Acquitted2 (7%)

Contested Findings (Defending)

Decided ByCasesConvictedPartialAcquitted
Judge Alone1010
Enlisted Panel3012
Officer Panel1100

Sentences When Defending

Enlisted (24 Convictions)

  • BCD13 of 24
  • DD9 of 24
  • No Punitive Discharge2 of 24

Officers and Warrant Officers (1 Conviction)

  • Dismissal1 of 1

No Punitive Discharge

2 of 24 Enlisted Convictions

  • Plea agreement1 of 2
  • No plea agreement0 of 2
  • Not reported1 of 2

Member Retained: 0 of 1 Officer Conviction

  • No dismissal0 of 1
92%Punitive discharge, enlisted (22 of 24)
96%Confinement (24 of 25 convictions)
1.2 yrsMedian confinement
42.0 yrsLongest confinement

UCMJ Articles When Defending

ArticleCasesContestedConvictedAcquitted
Art. 134 General article10291
Art. 128b Domestic violence9090
Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child5150
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation5232
Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault3312
Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer3030
Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances2121
Art. 115 Communicating threats2020
Art. 119b Child endangerment2111
Art. 128 Assault2111

Where

  • Fort Polk 27

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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.

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