Article 128b With Article 134 in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Army, with Article 134

Based on 47 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Sentences Over 1 Year

19 of the 43 convictions (44%) carried more than one year of confinement. Army-wide, 22% of Article 128b convictions from 2021 to 2026 did. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years made up 33% here, compared with 18%. Terms of 5 years or more made up 12%, compared with 4%.

The shorter bands were smaller. Terms under 6 months were 33% of convictions, compared with 42%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were 14%, compared with 20%, and convictions with no confinement were 9%, compared with 15%.

The Median and the Upper Quarter

Confinement was part of 91% of the 43 convictions. The median term was 1 year. Army-wide, the median for Article 128b cases was 6 months. A quarter of the terms here were 2.8 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences: what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence covers all of the charges in a case, so these terms reflect more than the domestic violence charge alone.

Court Level

General courts-martial heard 39 of the 47 cases (83%), and special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge, so any term over one year here came from a general court-martial.

Contested Cases and Acquittals

21 accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, and 26 pleaded guilty. The contested share, 45%, is higher than the 27% Army-wide for Article 128b cases. Of the 26 guilty pleas, 24 are recorded with a plea agreement and 2 have no entry.

Of 21 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal. That 19% rate is lower than the 33% Army-wide. 17 ended in a partial acquittal, with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge.

Members in Contested Cases

The forum is listed for 46 cases. A military judge alone decided guilt in 32 (70%), and members heard 14: 12 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. Among the 20 contested cases with the forum listed, members heard 14 (70%).

The accused usually chooses the forum. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, and in this group every case heard by members was contested.

Discharges

Among 37 enlisted members convicted, 27 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (73%). That matches the Army-wide share for Article 128b cases (73%). 13 of the 27 were dishonorable.

6 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in the records, and 4 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank and Other Charges

By rank, 21 accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 19 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 7 were officers or warrant officers. Army-wide, 56% of the accused in Article 128b cases were junior enlisted, so this group is more senior.

No case charged Article 128b alone; Army-wide, 234 of 496 Article 128b cases did. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 18 of these cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 11, Article 115 (communicating threats) in 8, and Article 119b (child endangerment) in 8.

A case counts under each article it included, so these counts overlap. One sentence covers all the charges in a case, whatever their mix.

Years and Installations

The 47 cases were tried between January 2021 and September 2026: 4 in 2021, 13 in 2022, 14 in 2023, 9 in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 2 in 2026, a partial year.

Fort Bragg had 8 cases. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Drum, Fort Polk, and Wheeler Army Airfield had 3 each. Together they account for 43% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

What These Records Do Not Cover

Article 128b is a covered offense, and it applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether covered offenses go to trial, and new sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Trial dates are recorded but offense dates are not, so trials from 2024 on mix old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.