Our Honolulu Military Criminal Defense Services
Accusations under Article 120 of the UCMJ are serious and can have life-altering consequences. Our firm has a proven track record of defending service members accused of sexual assault and rape. We conduct thorough investigations, challenge evidence, and provide a robust defense to protect your rights and reputation.
Article 134 covers a wide array of offenses that may not be specifically listed under other UCMJ articles. These offenses include conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces. Our attorneys have the expertise to navigate these complex cases and provide effective defense strategies.
Article 15, also known as Non-Judicial Punishment (NJP), allows commanders to discipline service members without a court-martial. While NJP is less severe than a court-martial, it can still impact your military career. We provide counsel and representation during NJP proceedings to ensure your rights are protected.
Assault charges in the military can range from simple assault to aggravated assault with a weapon. Our attorneys are skilled in defending against all types of assault charges, ensuring that your side of the story is heard and that you receive a fair trial.
After a court-martial conviction, a clemency request can be made to reduce the severity of the sentence. Victor Bakke, ALC, can assist in preparing and presenting compelling clemency requests to military authorities, highlighting mitigating factors and advocating for a reduction in your sentence.
Courts Martial Defense
Our Honolulu military defense attorneys provide comprehensive defense services for all types of courts martial, including:
- General Courts Martial: The most serious level of military trial, reserved for severe offenses. We offer rigorous defense strategies to protect your future.
- Special Courts Martial: These trials deal with intermediate-level offenses. Our attorneys ensure you receive fair treatment and a strong defense.
- Summary Courts Martial: The least severe form of courts martial, but still serious. We provide representation to ensure your rights are upheld.
If you have been convicted at a court-martial, you have the right to appeal. Our firm has extensive experience in courts martial appeals, challenging convictions, and seeking to overturn unjust verdicts. We meticulously review trial records, identify errors, and present strong arguments to appellate courts.
Discharge Upgrade
A less-than-honorable discharge can have lasting negative effects on your life and career. We assist service members in seeking discharge upgrades, presenting evidence of good conduct and service to military review boards to help you secure a more favorable discharge status.
Officer Misconduct
Accusations of officer misconduct can severely damage your career and reputation. Our firm provides expert defense for officers facing misconduct allegations, ensuring that you receive a fair hearing and that your rights are protected throughout the process.
Our team's combined experience in each of the above stated areas is what separates us from other lawyers and is absolutely critical to building your defense and winning your case. For example:
Military Judge: Only a small number of lawyers ever reach the status of military Judge and our experienced military Judge is the only practicing military defense lawyer in Hawaii to have reached this elite level. This means that Colonel (Ret.) Gross is the only military defense lawyer in Hawaii who knows, firsthand, how a military Judge thinks and what really goes on behind the bench. This unmatched experience is invaluable and provides our clients with the rare insight into what arguments are effective for winning bench trials, jury trials, and pre-trial motions from a Judge’s perspective.
Appeals: Our appellate experience provides the important, and often neglected, skills necessary to build the record for an effective appeal during the trial itself. This is important because most military criminal defense trial lawyers do not handle appeals and they will abandon you if they lose your trial. Our team however, has the experience to handle any necessary appeals. Likewise, if you have already gone to trial with another lawyer and been convicted, our appellate team can review and fight for a reversal of that conviction.
Former Prosecutors: Our experience as former prosecutors, combined with our many years of defense counsel experience, gives us an advantage in the courtroom that allows us to win trials from both sides of the courtroom. It is almost impossible to beat a good prosecutor unless you have previously been a good prosecutor yourself. Every member of our team has previously served as a prosecutor during their career so we know from experience exactly how the prosecutors work and think.
Sex Crimes Defense: If you have been accused of a sex crime offense, you need to know that very few lawyers are willing and/or qualified to take on your case because these cases are not popular and they are not easy. Instead, these cases require an advanced and very specific set of trial skills and knowledge that can only be obtained through years of experience and continuous legal training. At the Law Office of Victor Bakke, ALC., our military criminal defense team has over 25 years of experience focusing on, and successfully defending, sex crimes in the State, Federal and Military courts.
Administrative Action (NJP etc.): For those of you facing military misconduct allegations, our years of administrative law experience provides us with the necessary, and often overlooked, procedural knowledge to effectively fight your administrative separation or other administrative sanctions. We know how hard you have worked and the sacrifices that you have made and we will do everything possible to prevent the military from depriving you of your career or your benefits.
Bottom line: No law office in Hawaii, or the JAG, can match our years and range of legal experience and we have a proven history of winning tough cases against tough odds.
We are available NOW to discuss your case and to explain more about how we can help. Any delay on your part could mean years of confinement, a dishonorable discharge or dismissal, sex offender registration, loss of your career, loss of pay, a negative characterization of service, and many other damaging consequences to your freedom, life, and livelihood - both in the military and the civilian sector.
