A 32-year-old Navy sailor is facing charges of second-degree assault and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence after he allegedly strangled his wife during an argument at their Port Ludlow home.

A trial date for Correy A. Bushman was set Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court.

Authorities allege that Bushman, a petty officer first class who works at Naval Hospital Bremerton, attacked his wife on June 6 at their home after they started arguing.

The dispute turned violent after the woman tried to grab her phone to call a friend to pick her up, according to court documents.

Bushman allegedly had hidden her phone so she couldn’t use it, but when his wife discovered her phone was gone, she tried to use her husband’s phone.

The woman told police that her husband threw her to the floor as she was on the front porch and pinned her down, then put his hands around her neck and started squeezing.

The woman began having trouble breathing and started to feel light-headed, according to the probable cause report in the case. She said her husband stopped choking her after she bit him several times.

SECOND ATTACK

She told police she got back inside the house to discover that her husband had cut the power off. He came back inside when she was looking for her phone, and then allegedly began choking her again.

The woman again felt dizzy and was unable to breathe, according to court documents, but bit Bushman on the right cheek when his face drew near.

After the second altercation, Bushman called 911.

Police said the woman had red marks around her neck and a popped blood vessel on her left eye lid, “which is a common sign among people that have been stranguled,” the statement of probable cause said.

Bushman denied trying to strangle his wife, and said he had pinned her to the ground in an attempt to stop the fight.

During a court appearance Friday, Bushman’s supervisor at Naval Hospital Bremerton said Bushman had been a “stand-up sailor” and the charges were out of character for him.

LOWER BAIL REQUESTED

Bail was set after Bushman’s arrest in June. At his most recent court appearance, his attorney, Jonathan Cooper, asked for it to be lowered.

That suggestion was opposed by prosecutors.

“The state requested the bail because of the extreme nature of the offense,” said Chief Criminal Deputy Chris Ashcraft.

Ashcraft recalled that Bushman’s wife had previously been before the court; she had earlier asked for the removal of a no-contact order between her and her husband.

In July, the woman noted they had three children and two were coming to visit. She said her husband had no past history of violent behavior, and noted that the past six months had been hard on the family as her husband was dealing with the death of a 15-year-old son, and had moved to Washington from another state without his children. She said the alleged attack was a “one-time event” and that they were eager to start counseling.

The request to rescind the no-contact order was denied, but visitation for the children was allowed through a third party.

Ashcraft told Judge Keith Harper the bail already set was appropriate.

“We would be opposed to lowering the bail at this point,” Ashcraft said.

Cooper, however, said Bushman was currently in treatment and did not pose a risk.

TRIAL SET FOR FALL

Harper noted he had reviewed the details of the case that had been set out in the probable cause statement, and declined to lower the amount of bail.

“I’m going to leave the bail as it’s been set,” Harper said.

A pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 19.

The trial was set for Dec. 6.