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Learn Your Lawyer · Army · Defense Counsel

Ryan C. Speray

Counsel of record in 17 courts-martial in the Military Trial Results data
(17 as defense counsel, 0 as trial counsel)
Feb 2021 to Jan 2024

17Cases
17As defense counsel
0As trial counsel
12Contested (not guilty or mixed plea)

As Defense Counsel (Defending)

Average Contests Per Year: 4.1

17Cases
12Contested
33%Acquitted, contested cases (4 of 12)
50%Partial acquittal, contested cases (6 of 12)

Pleas When Defending

  • Guilty5 (29%)
  • Not Guilty9 (53%)
  • Mixed Plea*3 (18%)

Plea Agreements

  • Plea agreement6 (35%)
  • No plea agreement9 (53%)
  • Not reported2 (12%)

Who Decided the Case

  • Judge Alone11 (65%)
  • Enlisted Panel6 (35%)

Contested Panel Cases: 6 of 12

  • Enlisted Panel6 of 12
  • Officer Panel0 of 12

Findings When Defending, All Cases

  • Convicted7 (41%)
  • Partial Acquittal6 (35%)
  • Acquitted4 (24%)

Contested Findings (Defending)

Decided ByCasesConvictedPartialAcquitted
Judge Alone6051
Enlisted Panel6213

Sentences When Defending

Enlisted (13 Convictions)

  • BCD7 of 13
  • DD6 of 13

No Punitive Discharge

0 of 13 Enlisted Convictions

  • No punitive discharge0 of 13
100%Punitive discharge, enlisted (13 of 13)
100%Confinement (13 of 13 convictions)
1.2 yrsMedian confinement
12.0 yrsLongest confinement

UCMJ Articles When Defending

ArticleCasesContestedConvictedAcquitted
Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault9856
Art. 134 General article4322
Art. 107 False official statements3130
Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child3131
Art. 121 Larceny3121
Art. 115 Communicating threats2211
Art. 128 Assault2220
Art. 80 Attempts2120
Art. 82 Soliciting2020
Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances1110

Where

  • Fort Hood 15
  • Fort Bragg 1
  • Fort Huachuca 1

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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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