Kene Okocha
Assistant Professor of Law
WCL | WCL Faculty
Bio
Professor Kenechukwu O. Okocha teaches and writes in the areas of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and victims' rights. His scholarship examines how criminal law, evidentiary doctrine, and prosecutorial decision making shape justice for victims, particularly those from historically marginalized and vulnerable communities. His article,Hearsay in High Definition: Body Worn Cameras and the Future of Intimate Partner Violence Prosecutions, is forthcoming in the Georgetown Law Journal. It explores how body worn camera evidence can strengthen intimate partner violence prosecutions through reforms to hearsay doctrine while preserving defendants' constitutional rights.
Before joining American University Washington College of Law, Professor Okocha served for fifteen years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. During his tenure, he litigated more than forty trials in both the United States District Court and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He spent more than seven years as Deputy Chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section, supervising federal prosecutors handling sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence cases. In that role, he helped develop one of the nation's first domestic violence focused restorative justice programs within a United States Attorney's Office in collaboration with the New York University Silver School of Social Work. Before serving as Deputy Chief, he served as a Senior Sexual Offense prosecutor handling many of the District of Columbia's most serious sexual abuse prosecutions. Prior to joining the United States Attorney's Office, Professor Okocha served as an Assistant District Attorney in Wisconsin, where he prosecuted offenses ranging from misdemeanor domestic violence to homicide.
Professor Okocha is a frequent lecturer on criminal law, evidence, and trial advocacy. He has presented his scholarship and conducted professional trainings for prosecutors, attorneys, law enforcement officers, forensic nurses, victim advocates, and judges, including through the United States Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training Program, the National Black Prosecutors Association, and the Zero Abuse Project. His publications have also informed professional practice, including his work on pretrial release, which is cited in the official annotations accompanying Wisconsin's bail statute.
Professor Okocha earned both his B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Political Science and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, where he received the Abe Sigman Award for Scholarship and Character and the Bruce F. Beilfuss Award for Outstanding Service.
