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MCB Hawaii Court Martial Defense: Defending Marines at Kaneohe Bay

Marine Corps Base Hawaii and Kāneʻohe Bay.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii and Kāneʻohe Bay.Photo: U.S. Marine Corps · Public domain
Source and image detailsPanoramic View of MCBHFull frame preserved. Display size reduced.
The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

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Marine Corps Base Hawaii: The Corps on the Windward Shore of Oahu

On the Mokapu Peninsula reaching into Kaneohe Bay, on the windward side of Oahu, Marine Corps Base Hawaii is the home of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, the Corps's new Pacific formation built for fighting across island chains, along with Marine Aircraft Group 24, 3rd Radio Battalion, and Navy tenant units including Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 51, which flies the C-40A Clipper. It is a base with deep history, the place the Japanese struck minutes before Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and a base on the front edge of the Corps's pivot to the Pacific today. For the Marines and Sailors stationed here, it is also an island where misconduct does not stay quiet.

For this firm, Kaneohe Bay sits in home waters. A Marine facing an investigation or court martial here is fighting for a career, a retirement, and sometimes freedom. The only way to win that fight is to deny the prosecution the easy conviction it expects and make it prove every element of what it has charged.

The Sailor Who Manned His Gun in the Open as the Bombs Fell

One of the war’s earliest Medal of Honor actions unfolded right here on the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn was at the Naval Air Station on Kaneohe Bay when Japanese planes came in low and began strafing the PBY flying boats on the ramp. Finn ran to a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on an instruction stand in the open, with no cover anywhere, and opened fire on the attackers. He was hit again and again, more than twenty wounds, and he stayed at that gun and kept firing through the entire attack, refusing to leave even after the planes had gone so he could get the squadron's own guns back into action. He received the Medal of Honor for a stand he made on this ground. He held an exposed position and would not be driven off it, and that refusal to abandon the fight is the standard we bring to a fight at Kaneohe Bay.

Why Marines at MCB Hawaii Fly Us In

Few firms a Marine can call have real roots on this island and a trial record to match. Tim Bilecki founded Bilecki Law Group in Honolulu and ran it from the islands, and for nearly two decades he has defended service members in contested Oahu courts martial and won the cases other lawyers would have pled out. The firm is based in Tampa now, and Marines and Sailors fly Tim in from around the globe for how he wins at trial. Hawaii is home, and these are cases the firm goes out of its way to take. When the government at Kaneohe Bay finds that kind of counsel on the other side, the easy conviction is gone.

The reason it matters is that the military justice system was not built to find the truth. It exists to preserve good order and discipline, and it does that by making a public example of someone, because a ruined career keeps the rest of the unit in line. A serious case at Kaneohe Bay is investigated by NCIS, and for sexual assault, domestic violence, 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 in the Marine Corps Office of Special Trial Counsel. Your detailed defense counsel from the Defense Service Organization can be capable and committed, but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Marines who are serious about the fight bring in their own counsel.

UCMJ Charges We Defend at MCB Hawaii

We defend the full range of UCMJ charges. The ones below are the most common at MCB Hawaii, not the boundary of what we will fight.

Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). The Marine Corps runs its SAPR program at Kaneohe Bay under intense institutional pressure. An allegation is often treated as established before the investigation is finished, and where the evidence will not support a charge, the command falls back on administrative separation. Marines have also learned that a complaint can redirect an investigation or settle a barracks or relationship dispute, and a command focused on showing it takes every report seriously is in no position to weigh motive. These cases route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and for a Marine in an aviation billet they carry the added threat of a flight or duty status review, so they demand counsel who will investigate independently and contest the case early, before charges are preferred.

A serious and growing part of our Hawaii work is defending service members swept up in the online predator stings run on this island, the Operation Keiki Shield operations. These are joint stings. Military investigators from NCIS, Army CID, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations work alongside the State's Internet Crimes Against Children task force. An agent poses online as a fourteen or fifteen year old, steers the conversation toward sex and a meeting, and arrests whoever shows up. There is usually no actual child, which means that under the UCMJ the charge is most often an attempt under Article 80 and it requires specific intent and an act that goes beyond mere preparation. We defend the court martial that comes out of these stings, and we have won them, with numerous full acquittals over the years. In one at Schofield, Tim argued entrapment and exposed agents who had used photographs of an adult to pose as a minor. The defenses are a mistake of fact as to age, where the person reasonably believed they were dealing with an adult; entrapment, where the government planted the idea in someone who was not predisposed to it. After the arrest, agents push hard for a written statement or an apology letter, because that is the fastest way to lock in their case. Do not give one, and if you already have, a statement taken under that kind of pressure can still be challenged. We also examine compliance with Internet Crimes Against Children protocols for weaknesses in the investigation and the agents’ credibility. A protocol violation alone is not a legal defense; its significance depends on the charged offense, the evidence, and the applicable defense.

Fraud and Larceny (UCMJ Article 121 / Article 107). Honolulu carries one of the highest housing allowance rates in the country, which makes BAH a target for auditors here. The typical case starts with a Marine drawing BAH set by a dependent's address, where an auditor later decides the dependent does not live where the paperwork says, or that a marriage or dependency claim does not hold up. Because the form is what authorizes the rate, the government charges it as larceny under Article 121 and as a false official statement under Article 107, the same paperwork serving as both the theft and the lie. The government still has to prove intent, and a finance office error, bad guidance, or a family whose living situation genuinely changed is not a scheme. We defend BAH fraud, larceny, wrongful appropriation, and conspiracy to defraud, and we win them on the paper trail and the intent the government would rather assume.

Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b has become one of the largest parts of our caseload, and a base with this many families stationed far from home sees a great deal of it. Since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over it is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and makes strangulation or suffocation a separate, serious charge even when there is little or no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end a Marine's career because the job requires being able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, including the off base fights the military can still prosecute under the UCMJ even when civilian police never filed a charge. Self defense is a recognized defense, and what actually happened often looks different from the first report once the evidence comes in.

Drug Offenses (UCMJ Article 112a). Hawaii has a longstanding problem with methamphetamine, and the drug cases the command worries about here are less about a single marijuana positive than about ice and other substances bought on the island. A positive urinalysis or a possession allegation is serious but not the end of the fight. The chain of custody can be challenged, innocent ingestion is a recognized defense, and the government still has to prove that any use or possession was knowing and wrongful. Get experienced counsel involved as early as you can, because the government works hardest to lock in its case at the very start.

Military Specific Offenses (UCMJ Articles 134, 113, 92, and more). A lot of these charges begin on liberty, and from Kaneohe Bay that means the windward towns of Kailua and Kaneohe close to the gate, and Waikiki and Chinatown across the Pali in Honolulu. A Marine is subject to the UCMJ off base just as much as on it, so a bar fight, a DUI, or a drunk and disorderly out there comes back to the command, which rarely stops at one charge. The command stacks disorderly conduct under Article 134, a violated order under Article 92, and, for a commissioned officer, cadet or midshipman, conduct unbecoming under Article 133, to drive up the maximum punishment and the pressure to plead. Every specification still has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt on its own, and the weak ones on an inflated charge sheet are the first to fall.

Even in Paradise, a Mistake Shouldn't End a Career

Not every Marine who calls us from Hawaii is innocent, and we do not pretend otherwise. Some made a bad decision and know it. That does not mean they have to accept the worst the system can hand out, prosecuted by an institution eager to turn one case into a warning for everyone else on the base. Rank does not decide whether you need a firm like ours; the seriousness of the case does. If a matter is genuinely minor, your Defense Service Organization counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly, because we do not take every case and we will not take a Marine's money for one that does not need us.

But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A conviction at a general or special court martial is a federal criminal conviction. The applicable sentencing rules depend on the offenses and when they occurred. A conviction can bring confinement, a punitive discharge or dismissal, and sex offender registration for a covered offense, no matter your rank. That is why you fight, and the system is counting on you not to.

If you are facing an investigation or court martial at MCB Hawaii, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We know this island, we know how these cases move here, and 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 MCB Hawaii Kaneohe Bay

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

FAQ

NCIS wants to interview me at Kaneohe Bay. Do I have to talk to them?
No, and not without counsel. The interview is not your chance to clear things up; it is evidence collection, and under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to ask for a lawyer. For covered offenses like sexual assault, the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but to an independent Special Trial Counsel in the Marine Corps Office of Special Trial Counsel. NCIS works for the command and the prosecution, not for you, so decline the interview, ask for counsel, and call a lawyer before you say anything.

Why hire Bilecki Law Group instead of a local attorney already on island?
We win court martial cases. Marines and Sailors fly us in from all over the world because military defense is all we do and our trial record proves it. We are not new to this island either: Bilecki Law Group was founded in Honolulu and defended courts martial across Oahu for more than a decade, so our national record comes with real knowledge of the Hawaii commands and how these cases move here.

I was arrested in an Operation Keiki Shield sting. Is there a defense when I showed up to the meeting?
Yes. These cases turn on intent, and intent is fought over in the messages that came before the meeting, not in the fact that someone showed up. There is no real child in a sting, so the charge is usually an attempt under Article 80, and the government has to prove what you actually intended. The defenses we use are a mistake of fact as to age, where you reasonably believed you were dealing with an adult; entrapment, where investigators planted the idea in someone who was not predisposed to it. Do not give a statement or write an apology letter, and if you already have, one taken under that kind of pressure can still be challenged. We also examine compliance with Internet Crimes Against Children protocols for weaknesses in the investigation and the agents’ credibility. A protocol violation alone is not a legal defense; its significance depends on the charged offense, the evidence, and the applicable defense.

I am on flight or aircrew status with MAG-24. Can an investigation ground me even before trial?
Yes, on a track separate from the court martial. An allegation or investigation can trigger a review of your flight or duty status, and you can be grounded or pulled from your billet while it runs, with consequences that can outlast the criminal case even if it never produces a conviction. What you say in the criminal process can affect the status side and the reverse, so the two have to be handled together from the start, and protecting your status can matter as much as beating the charge.

From the time I retained his services to a personal consultation it was less than 72 hours. … by the time he had arrived back in Hawaii he had reviewed my file on his flight over! I called 3 other attorneys and they all would take over 2 weeks to start working on my case.

Sergio

Sergio

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Prior results do not predict future outcomes. A prospective client may not obtain the same or similar results.