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Hawaii Court Martial Defense: Defending Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen Across Oahu

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Hawaii: Headquarters of the Pacific

Oahu holds every branch of the American military on one island. Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division train out of Schofield Barracks, and the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade flies from Wheeler Army Airfield next door. U.S. Army Pacific and the 8th Theater Sustainment Command are headquartered at Fort Shafter, and Tripler Army Medical Center is the only federal tertiary care hospital in the Pacific Basin. Pearl Harbor holds Headquarters U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Pacific submarine force, and Hickam holds Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and the 15th Wing. Marines of the 3d Marine Littoral Regiment and Marine Aircraft Group 24 are at Kaneohe Bay, U.S. Pacific Command and Marine Corps Forces Pacific are at Camp H.M. Smith, and the Coast Guard flies from Barbers Point. Off duty is Waikiki, the North Shore, Kailua, and Chinatown on a Saturday night. It is some of the best duty in the military, and it comes with a hard edge: a service member in Hawaii answers to the UCMJ and to Hawaii law at the same time, and a command in the Pacific's headquarters moves fast to show it holds the line.

A serious court martial in Hawaii is decided by the lawyer's record at trial and by knowing the ground. We have both, and we are not civilian counsel flying in for a week on the beach. Tim Bilecki was stationed in Hawaii for three years. For eleven years, from 2010 to 2021, Bilecki Law Group was based in Honolulu, practicing from the ASB Tower on Bishop Street and handling approximately 200 cases in Hawaii. We still travel to Hawaii frequently for cases. We know the islands, we know the installations, and we know how cases are tried in Hawaii's military courtrooms. We have won many of them over the years. Military defense is all we do.

The Officer Who Would Not Leave the Arizona's Quarterdeck

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Lieutenant Commander Samuel G. Fuqua ran to the quarterdeck of USS Arizona as the attack began. A large bomb struck the quarterdeck, tore down through several decks, and started a severe fire. The blast knocked him down. When he came to, he took charge, directing the firefighting and the rescue of the wounded. Then a tremendous explosion forward engulfed the front of the ship in flames, and the bombing and strafing went on. Fuqua kept the fires back long enough to get the wounded and burned off the ship, and his citation records that he did it in an "amazingly calm and cool manner." When he understood that the Arizona could not be saved and that he was the senior surviving officer, he ordered abandon ship. He stayed on the quarterdeck directing the rescue until he was satisfied that every man who could be saved was off, and only then did he leave, in a boat full of his men. He took charge when everything around him was burning, and he did not leave until the job was done. That is the standard we bring to a case in Hawaii.

Why Service Members in Hawaii Bring Us In

We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and service members fly us in from all over the world because of our trial record. The military justice system is not built to find the truth. It exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a command in the Pacific's headquarters city will make an example of a service member to keep the standard sharp. A serious case is investigated by Army CID, by NCIS, which keeps resident agencies at Pearl Harbor and Kaneohe Bay, by Air Force OSI, or by Coast Guard Investigative Service. For sexual assault and other covered offenses, the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command. It goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. Your detailed military defense counsel, including the Army's Hawaii Trial Defense Service office, may be capable. That counsel also carries a heavy caseload inside the same system that is prosecuting you, which is why service members serious about winning bring in their own counsel.

Two Legal Systems: Hawaii State Law and the UCMJ

A service member in Hawaii lives under two legal systems at once. The UCMJ follows you everywhere you serve. Off the installation, Hawaii law applies as well: the Honolulu Police Department can arrest you, and the state can charge you in a Hawaii court. A DUI arrest on the H-1, a fight outside a bar in Waikiki, or a domestic call in off-base housing can start a state case and a military case on the same night.

A state court and a court martial draw their authority from different sovereigns, as Rule for Courts-Martial 201(d) recognizes. Each service limits a second prosecution for the same act by its own policy, so a state case does not automatically mean a court martial. But assume your command will learn about the arrest. The same facts can support a reprimand, separation processing, or other administrative action without any court martial, and a qualifying domestic violence conviction or protective order can bring a federal firearms prohibition that ends a career built on carrying a weapon.

Bilecki Law Group does not take Hawaii state court cases or federal court cases. Tim Bilecki and Ben Gold are both licensed in Hawaii, and both are on inactive status. If you are charged in a Hawaii court, you need a criminal defense lawyer who is actively licensed in Hawaii for that case. We defend the military side, and we work alongside your Hawaii lawyer so that a decision in one courthouse does not decide your case in the other. These guides explain the military consequences of the most common Hawaii civilian cases: Hawaii OVUII and DUI arrests, Hawaii restraining orders and protective orders, and other civilian criminal charges in Hawaii.

Every Installation We Defend in Hawaii

We defend service members at every American installation in Hawaii. Each of these pages covers that installation's units, its commands, and the charges we see there most.

UCMJ Charges We Defend in Hawaii

This is not the whole list of what we do in Hawaii. We take every kind of court martial, and these are simply the charges that come up most.

Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). These allegations route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and the command treats a report as established before the investigation is finished. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof. A conviction can mean confinement, a federal record, and registration for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law.

Online Stings and Child Offenses (UCMJ Articles 80, 120b, and 134). Undercover online operations are a documented part of Hawaii law enforcement. The Hawaii Attorney General's Operation Keiki Shield, with military investigators participating in identified operations, has led to the arrest of service members. An attempt charge requires a specific intent to commit the target offense and an act that goes beyond mere preparation. The fact that the "child" was an undercover officer does not by itself defeat the case, but the government still has to prove every element, and the conversation and its chronology decide whether it can.

Domestic Violence, Protective Orders, and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and it treats strangulation or suffocation and violations of a protective order as their own charges. In Hawaii the same incident can also bring a state case or a restraining order petition, and a qualifying conviction or protective order can trigger the federal firearms prohibition. We also defend assault under Article 128, the usual charge when a night in Waikiki ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.

Drunk Driving and Off Base Incidents (UCMJ Articles 113 and 134). An OVUII arrest off base starts a Hawaii case, and the same night can bring command action, a reprimand, and a fight to keep your career. On the installation, drunk driving is charged under Article 113. Many of these cases can be held at nonjudicial punishment or administrative action, and the fight is to keep them there.

Drugs (UCMJ Article 112a). A positive urinalysis comes back to the command. It is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt, so the collection, the chain of custody, and whether any use was knowing all remain the government's to prove.

BAH Fraud, False Statements, and Larceny (UCMJ Articles 121, 124, and 107). BAH cases have been a steady part of our Hawaii practice. A paperwork error is not a crime. The government still has to prove the intent the charge requires, not just that the numbers do not reconcile.

A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending

We do not pretend that every service member who calls us from Hawaii is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, your detailed military defense counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly. But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and where the sentencing parameters apply the judge sentences within confinement ranges fixed by the offense, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, with specific facts in writing required to support a departure, on top of any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, on a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight. The court's jurisdiction and the convicted offense determine which sentencing rules apply; some offenses use separate sentencing criteria rather than these ranges.

If you are facing an investigation or court martial in Hawaii, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.

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Cases Connected to Hawaii

These cases include trials, hearings, investigations, and administrative matters. A connection to this location does not necessarily mean that the trial occurred here.

Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome.

FAQ

I need a military lawyer in Hawaii. Will you travel here? Yes. Tim Bilecki was stationed in Hawaii for three years, our firm was based in Honolulu for eleven years and handled approximately 200 cases there, and we still travel to Hawaii frequently for cases. We know the islands and how cases are tried there, whether the courtroom is at Wheeler, Pearl Harbor, Hickam, or Kaneohe Bay. The firm has taken more than 250 courts-martial to verdict. For a case that can end in confinement and a federal conviction, you want the most proven trial lawyer you can get, not the nearest.

Honolulu police arrested me off base. Will I also face the military? Possibly. Each service limits a second prosecution for the same act by policy, and the answer depends on your service, the act, and where the state case stands. Even when the military does not prosecute, the same facts can support a reprimand, separation processing, or other administrative action. Get counsel on the military side involved before you make any decision in the state case.

Will you represent me in Hawaii state court? No. Bilecki Law Group does not take Hawaii state court cases or federal court cases. Tim Bilecki and Ben Gold are both licensed in Hawaii, and both are on inactive status. For a state case you need a criminal defense lawyer who is actively licensed in Hawaii. We defend the military side of the case: the investigation, the command and Special Trial Counsel decisions, nonjudicial punishment, administrative action, and the court martial. We coordinate with your Hawaii lawyer so the two cases are defended together.

Honolulu police or a military investigator wants to question me. Do I have to talk? Do not answer questions about an allegation without counsel, whether the questions come from the Honolulu Police Department, Army CID, NCIS, Air Force OSI, or CGIS. When military investigators question you as a suspect, Article 31(b) of the UCMJ requires them to tell you the nature of the accusation, that you have the right to remain silent, and that anything you say can be used against you at a court martial. You may decline the interview and ask for a lawyer. Honolulu police are not bound by Article 31; they operate under civilian rules. A statement to either can reach the other. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.

I already have a military defense counsel in Hawaii. Can I still hire you? Yes. Under Article 38(b) of the UCMJ, you have the right to civilian counsel at your own expense, and your detailed military counsel stays on the case as associate counsel unless you ask that they be excused. You keep your military counsel and add a trial team with more than 250 courts-martial taken to verdict.