Devil Dog Defender
The Wilkie Law firm provides exceptional representation to service members and veterans worldwide in all branches of the military. Aden Wilkie is a criminal military defense counsel with the experience and dedication to defend your Constitutional rights. Aden’s extensive familiarity with all parts of the military justice process and both sides of the courtroom gives him unique and valuable insight to apply to your case. Aden has a reputation as an aggressive, fearless Marine who faithfully served his country through 6 deployments, 10 plus duty stations and 21 years of honorable service.
Experience and Diligence
Aden Wilkie has defended Marines and Sailors charged with serious crimes ranging from writing bad checks, drug charges, sexual assault, aggravated assault, assault and battery, child pornography to murder. His tenaciousness in preparation and ingenuity in trial allowed him to get excellent outcomes for his clients. The most prepared attorneys not only know their case but know their adversaries case as well. Aden’s thorough preparation allows him to achieve a favorable outcome even when an unpredictable government action arises.
Knowledge of Investigative / Command Tactics
As Staff Judge Advocate for multiple commands, Aden supported convening authorities providing advice on disciplinary issues and working closely with law enforcement investigators, command investigators and civilian authorities. These skills have proved invaluable as a defense attorney to be able to understand how the government side of the military legal system operates and always be one step ahead of them in a case. Aden knows how to initiate communication with these parties, understand how they think, how they are trained, and assess their competency. His knowledge of the litigation process allows him to accurately assess whether a plea deal is worth accepting or the wisdom in pressing forward to trial.
Leader with a Winning Record
During his time as the Senior Trial Counsel at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island South Carolina, Aden was consistently in court with his counsel helping them litigate every case, every hearing, and every issue. As a result of this intensive hands-on training the prosecutors of Parris Island led the way in the Marine Corps in number of convictions and large sentences being adjudged by both judges and juries. This position allowed Aden to achieve significant litigation experience understanding the tactics of the prosecution and the knowledge of how to circumvent those tactics as a defense counsel.
Aden also trained, led, and supervised a third of the criminal defense attorneys within the United States Marine Corps, as the Eastern Regional Defense Counsel. Guided by Aden’s experience the attorney’s under his charge, achieved an unprecedented number of acquittals in the region, resulting in the government losing every case of significance brought to trial over a year long time period.
Results
- Aden acted as lead counsel in numerous high-profile General Courts- Martial, all of which resulted in acquittals for either all or the serious “gravamen” charges in cases involving sexual assault and murder.
- Aden does not shrink from going the extra mile and has experience filing Ex Writs/ appeals during the trial process with the Navy and Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) and Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF).
- He aggressively pursues voir dire questioning of military judges to ferret out issues of immediate or future appellate relief.
- Aden is comfortable with asking the hard questions of commanders, judges, witnesses, and prospective panel members, but doing so with aplomb and finesse.
- One of Aden’s clients was acquitted in record time of a murder charge even though he had allegedly confessed to the crime and subjected himself to interviews with law enforcement six times.
- Another one of Aden’s defense clients was charged with several counts of sexual assault of a minor but received a full acquittal of all charges after the members panel deliberated for less than an hour.
Aden’s experience and diligence can make the most out of situations created by the government seeking to place the accused at a severe disadvantage. Aden’s knowledge of the litigation process allows him to accurately assess whether a plea deal is worth accepting. Aden always takes the side of caution and preparedness and continues to work the case and prepare for trial.
In one case a client was facing serious allegations of child abuse and decided to take a plea deal. A few days before the scheduled plea the government decided to alter several key provisions to the plea agreement previously agreed upon – making the agreement no longer advantageous for the client. So, after consultation with the client Aden arrived in court a few days later, backed out of the deal and changed the client’s plea to not guilty and demanded a speedy trial. Aden knew the prosecutor had not spoken with any of the witnesses and was not prepared for trial at that time. As the client had been in pre-trial confinement for several months, Aden asked for trial immediately or alternatively have the charges dismissed with prejudice. When the judge discerned the degree of unpreparedness by the government, he ordered dismissal of all charges (without prejudice) and immediate release of the client from the brig. The government chose not to provide a second initial review hearing when confining the client a second time and so Aden was able at the appropriate time to get three for one confinement credit for his client which significantly reduced the adjudged sentence.
During a deployment to a NATO exercise in Spain, Aden successfully negotiated the release of a Marine rightly detained by Spanish authorities under the Status of Forces Agreement between Spain and the United States. Even though the Marine had assaulted a Spanish police officer the night before and in spite of the Spanish governments authority to keep the Marine under International Law, Aden single handedly negotiated the Marine’s release. Using only his intelligence and finesse Aden successfully convinced the Spanish judge to release the Marine back into American custody. Thanks to Aden’s efforts the Marine was able to spend his rather lengthy pretrial period of confinement in US custody instead of languishing in a Spanish jail awaiting trial for assault.
These are but a few examples of the results Aden have obtained for parties he represented throughout his military career. And while outcomes cannot be guaranteed it is highly likely that Aden can help you with your case. And the first step in getting that help is reaching out and scheduling your initial consultation. Call 910-548-7846 to get started.
