Francis H. McVay

Francis H. McVay is a former Deputy County and Prosecuting Attorney for Park County, Wyoming, who went on to serve as Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel with the Wyoming State Public Defender, where he argued Walker v. State before the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Before founding Deep Waters Law, Francis McVay served as Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel for the Wyoming State Public Defender — the senior appellate post in the state’s public defense system.

There he briefed and personally argued Walker v. State, 2022 WY 158, before the Wyoming Supreme Court. The argument was his own.

When a mistake happens at trial and nobody objects, Wyoming law says the appeal is over before it begins — you don’t get to complain later about something you let pass. There is one narrow exception, and courts almost never grant it. McVay found the mistake in the written instructions the jury had been handed, argued it to all five justices, and won. Two felony convictions were reversed.

The rule that came out of that case now governs how Wyoming courts instruct juries when a defendant faces multiple identical charges, and Wyoming courts have cited it in six decisions since.

Read Walker v. State → · Case results →

Mr. McVay briefed and argued Walker as Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel for the Wyoming State Public Defender. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other matter.