A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
Bremerton, Washington held 45 courts-martial in 2015. Only 12% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 26% of cases, compared with 15% across the service.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Bremerton, Washington › 2015
Short answer: Bremerton, Washington held 45 courts-martial in 2015. Only 12% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 26% of cases, compared with 15% across the service. The median confinement was 4 months, slightly shorter than the 5 months across the service.
Very Few Cases Went to Trial on the Merits
The plea is listed in 42 of the 45 records. Of those, 37 accused pleaded guilty and 5 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes the case contested. The contested share was 12%, much lower than the 29% for the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
The contested share differed by court level. Of the 16 general courts-martial, 27% were contested. Of the 29 special courts-martial, 4% were contested. Of the 5 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
Larceny Was More Common
Charges appear in 43 of the 45 records, and each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 35% of cases, about the same as the 38% across the service. Article 121 (larceny) was next, at 26%, compared with 15%.
Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared less often, at 16% compared with 27%. Article 107 (false official statements) was slightly more common, at 16% compared with 13%. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 14% of cases, compared with 16%. Orders violations under Article 92 appeared in 12%, compared with 15%. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 7% of cases, compared with 5%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 35% | 38% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 11 | 26% | 15% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 7 | 16% | 13% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 16% | 27% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 14% | 16% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 12% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 9% | 8% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 7% | 5% |
Charge Outcomes
Every larceny case ended with a conviction on Article 121 (11 of 11), with a median confinement of 4 months. Assault cases ended in a conviction on Article 128 in 14 of 15 (93%). Those convictions had a longer median confinement, 1.2 years. A case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 14 (93%) | 1.2 years |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 11 | 11 (100%) | 4 months |
Mostly Short Sentences
Confinement was part of 91% of the 43 convictions. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months across the service. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Sentences under 6 months made up 56% of convictions, compared with 44% in the rest of the service. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 14%, compared with 24%. Sentences longer than one year were 9 of 43 convictions (21%), about the same as the 18% across the service. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year. The median confinement was 2 years at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 9% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 24 | 56% | 44% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 14% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 12% | 11% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 9% | 7% |
Discharges After Conviction
Of 39 convicted enlisted members, 21 received a punitive discharge (54%): 16 bad-conduct and 5 dishonorable. The Navy and Marine Corps share was 58%. Among 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation, which takes place outside the court-martial.
From 2014 to 2015
The installation tried 47 cases in 2014 and 45 in 2015. The contested share went from 23% to 12%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 5 of 10 to 2 of 5. The median confinement went from 6 months to 4 months. The punitive discharge share for enlisted members went from 62% to 54%. Convictions with confinement went from 95% to 91%. In groups this small, a few cases can cause changes of this size.
| 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 47 | 45 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 23% | 12% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 5 of 10 | 2 of 5 |
| Convictions with confinement | 95% | 91% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 62% | 54% |
| General courts-martial | 38% | 36% |
Rank and Court Level
The accused were 21 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 20 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 officers or warrant officers. That mix is similar to the rest of the service, where 47% were junior enlisted. General courts-martial made up 16 of 45 cases (36%), compared with 39% in the rest of the service. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Norfolk and San Diego the Same Year
Norfolk, Virginia (57 cases) and San Diego, California (59) tried a similar number of cases. Both had higher contested shares: 32% at Norfolk and 24% at San Diego. Norfolk had 11 full acquittals in 18 contested cases that reached a verdict, and San Diego had 5 of 14. The median confinement was 5 months at Norfolk and 4 months at San Diego. Their punitive discharge shares were 50% and 56%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bremerton, Washington | 45 | 12% | 2 of 5 | 4 months | 54% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 57 | 32% | 11 of 18 | 5 months | 50% |
| San Diego, California | 59 | 24% | 5 of 14 | 4 months | 56% |
Rules of the Time and Limits
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Records from this period often omit the plea, so plea figures use only the records that list one. The data gives trial dates, not offense dates. It does not describe evidence or plea terms, and it does not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Bremerton, Washington with a trial date in 2015 (45 cases).
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Bremerton, Washington: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Bremerton, Washington in 2014: 47 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Bremerton, Washington in 2016: 37 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.