NEAL A. PUCKETT
Attorney at Law
Lieutenant Colonel, USMC (Ret)
1800 Diagonal Road, Ste 210, Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 340-0069 – - www.militaryjudges.com
Neal A. Puckett is a military criminal defense attorney practicing from Alexandria, Virginia. Immediately upon his retirement from the Marine Corps, he served more than a year as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Pensacola, Florida. He has represented military service members in England, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, and Spain and throughout the United States. Most notably, he successfully defended Army LTC Allen West against charges of detainee abuse in Iraq in 2003 and represented former Army BG Janis Karpinski in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in 2004. Currently he represents Marine SSgt Frank Wuterich against murder charges arising out of operations last year in Haditha, Iraq. He has appeared on television on all major broadcast and cable news networks in connection with his work.
Mr. Puckett was commissioned in 1977 through the Platoon Leaders Class program after earning a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, with a double major in Psychology and Speech Communication from Indiana University, where he was also a Phi Beta Kappa. He holds a J.D. degree from Indiana University School of Law (1984); an LL.M. degree in Criminal Law from the University of San Diego School of Law (1989); and an M.A. degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College (1993).
Second Lieutenant Puckett graduated from The Basic School in 1977 and was designated an Intelligence Officer. Ordered to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he was reassigned to the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade in Norfolk, VA and deployed to Northern Europe for a NATO Exercise. Upon his return he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment where he served as the Battalion Intelligence Officer. After completion of a six‑month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, then First Lieutenant Puckett assumed command of the 4th Counterintelligence Team. In 1981 he was selected for the Funded Law Education Program for three years to earn a law degree at Indiana University, where he was promoted to Captain in March 1982.
Completing the Naval Justice School in 1984, Captain Puckett served as a defense counsel, chief prosecutor and Deputy Staff Judge Advocate at Camp Pendleton, California. While serving as a prosecutor, he was selected to join the National Security Task Force as a member of a trial team prosecuting Marine Security Guard cases arising from allegations of espionage at the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Vienna. In 1988, he was selected for the Special Education Program to earn a post‑graduate law degree in Criminal Law.
Promoted to Major and transferred to Okinawa, Japan in July 1989, he served as a military trial judge. He was President of the Okinawa Bench and Bar Association, composed of American and Japanese lawyers and judges. In 1992, he was selected to attend the College of Naval Command and Staff at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI. Major Puckett returned to the bench as a military trial judge at the 29 Palms, in July 1993. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in February 1995.
Lieutenant Colonel Puckett’s last tour on active duty was as the Officer in Charge of the Legal Service Support Section of the Third Force Service Support Group on Okinawa, Japan. The LSSS provides military justice, review, legal assistance and administrative law services to Marine units throughout Japan. During that tour, he also successfully defended a capital murder case.
Mr. Puckett retired from the Marine Corps on April 1, 1997. He was twice awarded both the Meritorious Service and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Creighton University School of Law, and has taught numerous trial advocacy courses, as well as college and graduate courses in political science, government, sociology, criminal justice and the legal process. He is admitted to practice in the State of Indiana, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Eastern District of Virginia and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Military Law Section, Virginia State Bar.