Lieutenant Colonel Colby C. Vokey to Speak at School of Law
Lawyers are the Key to Freedom: From Guantanamo Bay to Iraq
Lieutenant Colonel Colby C. Vokey
U.S. Marine Corps Regional Defense Counsel, Western Region
October 15, 2008, 12:10 - 1:10 p.m., Baker Courtroom
Sponsored by Criminal Law Association & IHRO
Press Release, October 7, 2008
Download High Resolution photo
Newspaper Articles (in pdf format)
Toronto Star, March 18, 2006
Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2006
Toronto Star, April 29, 2007
Bio
Lieutenant Colonel Vokey just recently completed his last tour in the U.S. Marine Corps serving as the Regional Defense Counsel, Western Region from 2003-2008, with his office located at Camp Pendleton, California. As the Regional Defense Counsel, Lieutenant Colonel Vokey supervised between 20-25 Marine Corps defense counsel in the Western half of the United States and those operating in Iraq.
Retiring from the Marine Corps, he now resides in Dallas, Texas and has joined the prestigious criminal law defense firm of Fitzpatrick, Hagood, Smith and Uhl in Dallas.
Lieutenant Colonel Vokey was born in Dallas, Texas in 1965. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Texas A&M University in 1987. After being commissioned in December of 1987, he then attended The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia and the U.S. Army Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, graduating with honors from both schools. In 1988, he received orders to the 12th Marine Regiment in Okinawa, Japan. He was assigned to 4th Battalion, 12th Marines, serving as the Battalion Assistant Operations Officer, Adjutant, and Fire Direction Officer for Battery K. First Lieutenant Vokey was next assigned to Battery L, 4th Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, where he served as Battery L’s Executive Officer in combat in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf War).
In July 1991, after returning to Okinawa, he was assigned to work on the Commanding General’s staff at 3d Marine Division. In April 1992, he transferred to Dallas, Texas for duty with the Inspector-Instructor Staff, 14th Marine Regiment. Promoted to Captain in September 1992, he was soon posted as the Inspector-Instructor of Headquarters Battery, 14th Marines. After being selected for the Law Education Program, Captain Vokey began law school in 1995 at the University of North Dakota. He was promoted to Major in October of 1997. He received his Juris Doctor with Distinction from the University of North Dakota School of Law in May 1998 and was a member of the Order of the Barristers and Phi Alpha Delta. After law school, he attended Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Major Vokey was then assigned to the Legal Services Support Section, 1st Force Service Support Group, Camp Pendleton, California. He served as Defense Counsel, Senior Defense Counsel, and Officer in Charge of Legal Service Support Teams D and E. In 2002, Major Vokey was selected to attend the Graduate Course at The Judge Advocate General’s School of the Army, located in Charlottesville, Virginia with the University of Virginia Law School. He received his Master Of Laws degree with a Criminal Law Specialty from that school in May 2003. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in October 2003. Lieutenant Colonel Vokey, as both a prosecutor and defense counsel, has tried hundreds of military courts-martial and other cases. These cases include those with charges of murder, murder in a combat zone, bank fraud, drug distribution, rape and a variety of other major and minor crimes. Recently, he served as lead defense counsel for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detainee Omar Khadr at the Military Commissions for offenses that were allegedly committed as a 15 year-old boy in Afghanistan. Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Vokey was also assigned to defend the highly publicized case of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the Marine squad leader who was originally charged with numerous counts of murder of Iraqi people for events that occurred in November 2005 in Haditha, Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Vokey intends to keep representing Staff Sergeant Wuterich as a civilian attorney.
Lieutenant Colonel Vokey is a graduate of the non-resident Warfighting Skills Program, Amphibious Warfare School and Command and Staff College. He was also selected as a member of the 1991 All-Marine Rugby Team. He has published one article in the Summer 2004 volume of the Military Law Review, Article 107, UCMJ: Do False Statements Really Have to Be Official?, 180 Mil. L. Rev. 1. His personal military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara, and the Combat Action Ribbon. In addition to his military awards, he was also selected as the American Bar Association’s 2007 Charles R. English Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year.
Colby Vokey is married to Cynthia Arrington Vokey of Dallas. Cindy is also a graduate of the University of North Dakota, having earned an M.B.A. from the College of Business and Public Administration. They have three children: Christina (19), Connor (15), and Camden (9).
