When Article 115 and Article 134 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?

Trends › By Offense › Article 115 › With Article 134

Based on 38 cases · 2021–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Equal Numbers of Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

Every case in this group has a plea on record. There were 19 guilty pleas and 19 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, so the contested share was 50%. For all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115, it was 37%.

Contested cases were common at both court levels. The contested share was 55% at general courts-martial and 44% at special courts-martial.

Verdicts in Contested Cases

Of the 19 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (21%). That is slightly lower than the 25% for all Article 115 cases.

Another 11 (58%) ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Article 134, the general article, covers a wide range of conduct. In contested cases with both charges, a partial acquittal was the most common result.

Sentences Were Somewhat Longer

Confinement was part of 97% of the 34 convictions. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 6 months for all Article 115 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1.5 years or longer.

Sentences over one year were given in 11 of 34 convictions (32%), compared with 28% in the comparison group. The most common length was 6 months to 1 year, with 13 convictions (38%). These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Which Courts Heard These Cases?

General courts-martial made up 58% of the cases (22 of 38). This is the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The other 16 were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year.

The median confinement was 1.2 years at general courts-martial and 6 months at special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year, so the 11 sentences over one year came from those 22 cases. A special court-martial can still impose a bad-conduct discharge.

Punitive Discharges Were Slightly Less Common

A punitive discharge was part of the sentence in 63% of enlisted convictions. That is slightly lower than the 67% for all Article 115 cases. There were 16 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges.

The records list 4 convicted officers or warrant officers. 2 of them were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge still allows a later administrative separation, which is not part of these court records.

The Accused Were More Senior

The accused were 22 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 12 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 4 officers or warrant officers. This group was more senior than all Article 115 cases in these services, where 62% of the accused were junior enlisted. NCOs and officers were a large part of this group.

Assault, Disobedience, Domestic Violence, and Drug Charges

Article 128 (assault) was charged in 24 of the 38 cases. Article 90 (disobeying an officer) was charged in 10, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 9, and Article 112a (drug) in 8. Each sentence covers all charges of conviction, so these offenses are part of the sentence and discharge figures.

Years and Installations

Trials took place from January 2021 to March 2026. There were 17 cases in 2021 and 8 in 2022. No later year had more than 4. The 2026 count of 2 covers part of the year.

Fort Bragg had 8 cases and Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 4. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 3, and Parris Island, South Carolina and San Diego, California had 2 each. These 5 installations account for 50% of the 38 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

What the Records Cannot Show

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as domestic violence. Offenses after December 27, 2023 are sentenced under new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They cannot show which rules applied to a case or whether the change affected outcomes.

With 38 cases, one case changes the percentages noticeably. The records also do not include the evidence, the plea terms, or matters handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 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.