> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Did Domestic Violence Cases at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Change After 2024? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/joint-base-lewis-mcchord-article-128b-before-after-2024/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:32:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:03:35.000Z - Description: From 2024–2026, 20 courts-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord charged Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019). Only 10% were contested, compared with 24% in all Army Article 128b cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Article 128b, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Joint Base Lewis-McChord](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/) › Article 128b **Short answer:** From 2024–2026, 20 courts-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord charged Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019). Only 10% were contested, compared with 24% in all Army Article 128b cases. 82% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 72% in the rest of the Army. Based on 20 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Nearly Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea Of these 20 cases, 18 were guilty pleas and only 2 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 10%, compared with 24% across Army Article 128b cases in the same years. All 18 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records note whether an agreement existed but not what it said, so the terms, such as any cap on confinement or any charges dropped, do not appear. Both contested cases ended in a full acquittal: 2 of 2 in the comparison table. With only 2 cases, that result does not show a rate. ## What Changed After 2023? The earlier period, 2021–2023, had 24 cases, about 8 a year. Since then there have been about 7 a year, counting full years only. The number of cases was about the same. The way cases ended changed more. The contested share went from 33% to 10%. The share of cases tried at a general court-martial went from 67% to 42%. The median confinement went from 6 months to 4 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 70% to 82%. In 2021–2023, 1 of 8 decided contested cases ended in full acquittal. In small groups a few cases can change a percentage, so these changes show direction, not precise size. | | 2021–2023 | 2024–2026 | | ----------------------------------- | --------- | --------- | | Cases | 24 | 20 | | Contested (of pleas recorded) | 33% | 10% | | Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 8 | 2 of 2 | | Convictions with confinement | 100% | 94% | | Median confinement | 6 months | 4 months | | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 70% | 82% | | General courts-martial | 67% | 42% | ## Confinement After Conviction Of 18 convictions, 17 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months in all Army Article 128b cases. A quarter of the sentences were 7 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, not just the domestic violence count. ## Bad-Conduct Discharges and No Dishonorable Discharges A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member, or a dismissal for an officer. Of 17 convicted enlisted members here, 14 received one, and all 14 were bad-conduct discharges. 0 were dishonorable. Across all Army Article 128b cases, the share receiving a punitive discharge was 72%. 1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in the records, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Who Was Accused, and at What Court Level? The accused were 8 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 11 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. That group is more senior than Army Article 128b cases overall, where 53% of the accused were junior enlisted. General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, heard 8 of the 19 cases with a court level listed (42%). The court level is not listed for 1 case. Special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge, heard the rest. ## No Case Went to a Panel of Members A military judge alone decided 18 cases. Enlisted panels heard 0 and officer panels heard 0, Members heard 0% of cases, compared with 16% in all Army Article 128b cases. The accused usually chooses between a judge and a panel. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so this split mostly follows how few cases were contested. ## Domestic Violence Was Often the Only Charge Only 7 of the 20 cases charged another article alongside Article 128b. The most common other charges were Article 92 (orders violation), Article 90 (disobeying an officer), Article 120 (sexual assault), and Article 128 (assault), each in 2 cases, and Article 119a (death or injury of an unborn child) in 1. The yearly counts were 10 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 6 in 2026, with 2026 a partial year. These cases made up 27% of the 75 courts-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2024–2026. ## The Rule Changes Behind These Years Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and Article 128b is one of them. When every guilty finding in a case covers an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules turn on the offense date, which these records do not include, so 2024–2026 trials mix old-rule and new-rule cases. The rule changes happened in the same period as the changes above. The records cannot show whether one caused the other. Article 128b itself applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019; earlier conduct was charged under other articles. ## Limits of the Records The data gives trial dates, not offense dates. It does not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and it leaves out conduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128b on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Courts-martial tried at Joint Base Lewis-McChord that charged Article 128b (found guilty, not guilty, or both): 2021–2023 (24) and 2024–2026 (20). Comparisons use every Army case charging Article 128b in 2024–2026. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Joint Base Lewis-McChord: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/) (hub) - [Article 128b (Domestic Violence, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128b-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) (hub) - [Inside 139 Courts-Martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, 2020–2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/joint-base-lewis-mcchord-courts-martial-2020-2023/) (the whole docket) - [Joint Base Lewis-McChord, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 75 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/joint-base-lewis-mcchord-courts-martial-2024-2026/) (the whole docket) - [Article 128b at Fort Hood Before and After 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-hood-article-128b-before-after-2024/) (same offense, another installation) - [Domestic Violence Cases at Fort Bragg: 2021–2023 vs. 2024–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-bragg-article-128b-before-after-2024/) (same offense, another installation) - [Is Army Domestic Violence Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 128b, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128b-trend-2021-2025/) - [Article 128b explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ## Military Judges Who Presided Over Article 128b Cases at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, 2024–2026 - [Larry A. Babin Jr.](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-larry-a-babin-jr/) - [Jessica Conn](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-jessica-conn/) - [Joseph R. Distaso](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-joseph-r-distaso/) - [Matthew S. Fitzgerald](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-matthew-s-fitzgerald/) - [Daniel L. Mazzone](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-daniel-l-mazzone/) - [Robert E. Murdough](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-robert-e-murdough/) - [Mitchell M. Suliman](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-mitchell-m-suliman/) Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the [Court-Martial Characters](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judges/) membership. **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.