ABOUT US – ATTORNEYS

Civilian court-martial defense lawyers Richard V. Stevens and Frank J. Spinner are former active duty military JAG attorneys, each having served as senior level military defense lawyers.  As civilian defense attorneys, they established their respective military defense law offices because, as former military officers, they care deeply about protecting and defending the rights of military members and their families, and ensuring they are treated with fairness and respect in the military justice system.

Attorney Richard V. Stevens and attorney Frank J. Spinner have completely separate and independent law practices, with no common clients, offices, or personnel. 

Mr. Stevens and Mr. Spinner travel around the world, to wherever their military clients are stationed or serving, to represent and defend them.  They advise, represent, and/or defend military members in the following locations across the globe: https://militaryadvocate.com/locations/

Mr. Stevens and Mr. Spinner have the extensive military law, criminal defense and trial experience necessary to fight for you.  They have fought for, and defended, military members of all ranks, in all service branches, who have faced military adverse actions ranging from administrative discipline and board hearings through courts-martial alleging the most serious offenses, such as “war crimes,” crimes arising out of combat or in theater, national security cases, murder, manslaughter, homicide, rape, sexual assault, consensual sex offenses, drug offenses, computer crimes (pornography), larceny, fraud, conduct unbecoming, military academy offenses, senior officer cases, AWOL/desertion, and all types of the most serious criminal charges and military offenses.

Mr. Stevens and Mr. Spinner pledge to provide proven trial skills, extensive knowledge of the military and military law, experienced representation, aggressive defense and straightforward advice to members of all military branches stationed around the world. 

ATTORNEY RICHARD V. STEVENS

Attorney Richard V. Stevens has extensive experience in the most complex, serious military trials, and all types of adverse military administrative actions, discipline and investigations. He has served as an active duty base military defense counsel, active duty regional military defense counsel, civilian state and federal trial attorney and civilian criminal defense and military defense attorney.  

*To review Mr. Stevens’ resume, please click here.   

Mr. Stevens has been handling military cases since 1995.  He has defended military cases dealing with the most serious military offenses, including allegations of "war crimes," national security cases, murder, manslaughter, homicide, rape, sexual assault, other sex related offenses, drug offenses, computer crimes (pornography), larceny, fraud, AWOL/desertion, conduct unbecoming, military academy offenses, offenses within combat zones, senior officer cases and other military specific offenses around the world.

A majority of the cases defended by Mr. Stevens have involved the use of expert witnesses and consultants and many have received regional, national and international press coverage, requiring experience in dealing with the press and how this can impact a client's defense.

While serving in the military as an active duty defense attorney, Mr. Stevens became a military defense legal expert in the area of false confessions, refuting client confessions or incriminating statements, and attacking police interrogation methods. Since that time, and as a civilian criminal defense attorney, he has given countless presentations on this issue to military defense attorneys around the world and has consulted with civilian and military defense lawyers.

In addition to cases he has defended, Mr. Stevens has acted as a trial preparation consultant for defense attorneys – military and civilian – in several high profile trials, including several military murder cases. Many of these cases have had successful outcomes not expected by the prosecution.

Mr. Stevens has repeatedly been invited to speak at military defense attorney conferences regarding military trial defense issues.  He has lectured and instructed at these conferences since 1997.  His presentation topics have included:  defending high profile/media cases, defending complex criminal trials, utilizing and working with expert consultants and expert witnesses, attacking police interrogation tactics and false confessions, preparing trial strategy and defense case file, defending against military rape and sex offense allegations and military defense counsel working with civilian defense counsel.  Mr. Stevens has also served as a military law expert for media outlets, including the Associated Press.

ATTORNEY FRANK J. SPINNER

Since his retirement from active duty military service in the early 1990s, attorney Frank J. Spinner has defended some of the most highly publicized cases in recent military justice history.  These cases have included:  Capt James Wang, SSG Delmar Simpson, Lt Kelly Flinn, MG David Hale, Capt Richard Ashby, Cadet Douglas Meester, SPC Sabrina Harmon, CWO Lewis Welshofer, SFC Trey Corrales, SrA Andrew Witt, MSG Tim Hennis, and SPC Jeremy Morlock.

Beyond his renowned military trial record, Mr. Spinner is also recognized as a leading appellate attorney before all military appeals courts, to include the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (C.A.A.F.).

Mr. Spinner retired from the United States Air Force having served in military defense positions such as Chief Circuit Defense Counsel (the chief military defense attorney over all military defense attorneys in the geographic region) and two tours with the Appellate Defense Division, one tour as Chief Appellate Defense Counsel.

Since he established his civilian legal practice, Mr. Spinner has made multiple guest appearances on 60 Minutes, 20/20, Dateline, Nightline, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Meet the Press, CNN Crossfire, Oprah, Larry King Live and NPR.  His work was featured on the History Channel in a program entitled "Real JAGs."  Many of his cases have received front page coverage in national news periodicals, including the cover of Time Magazine and features in the New Yorker magazine and several nonfiction books.  Mr. Spinner also served on the "Commission on the 50th Anniversary of the U.C.M.J.", otherwise known as "The Cox Commission.”

*To review Mr. Spinner’s resume, please click here   

ATTORNEY MICHAEL J. COCO

Attorney Michael J. Coco has associated with the Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C. in an “of counsel” capacity.  Mr. Coco recently retired from the Air Force, after spending sixteen of his twenty-plus years of active duty service as an Air Force JAG.  While in the Air Force JAG Corps, Mr. Coco served as a military trial judge, a military defense counsel at both the base and regional levels, and as a prosecutor at the regional level.  Mr. Coco and Mr. Stevens have nearly four decades of combined military law experience to draw on in defending their clients. 

After his Air Force retirement, Mr. Coco established a military defense law practice, the Law Office of Michael J. Coco, P.A., and in 2015 he affiliated with Mr. Stevens’ military defense law practice in an “of counsel” role, while maintaining ownership of his own practice as well. 

During his Air Force JAG career, Mr. Coco handled hundreds of military courts-martial and administrative disciplinary actions.  He was involved in some of the most complex and high-profile cases in the Air Force military justice system at the time.  Mr. Coco has litigated a full spectrum of criminal issues including successfully representing clients accused of murder, rape, robbery, embezzlement, computer crimes, and drug offenses.  His complex litigation experience has included effectively using defense experts and confronting prosecution experts in a wide range of specialties, including forensic computer analysis, forensic psychology, false confession experts, toxicologists, medical examiners, and financial experts.  He has also advised senior officers in actions regarding removal from command, senior officer unfavorable information files, and officer grade determinations.

Mr. Coco has also been involved in a number of high profile cases that garnered national media attention, including sexual assault allegations against military training instructors at Lackland AFB, TX, sexual assault at the United States Air Force Academy, the inadvertent delivery of a nuclear fuse to Taiwan, and an espionage case arising out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

During his Air Force JAG career, Mr. Coco also instructed on military law and military justice topics, including serving as an Assistant Professor of Law at the United States Air Force Academy, presentations at the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School, the Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, and at military attorney training conferences around the country.