> ## 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. # Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019: The Year in Numbers - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2019/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:15:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:52.000Z - Description: Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in 2019 included 147 cases charging Article 128 (assault). Among records that list the plea, 46% were contested, compared with 28% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year. 23 of 36 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 128, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 128](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) › Navy-Marine Corps, 2019 **Short answer:** Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in 2019 included 147 cases charging Article 128 (assault). Among records that list the plea, 46% were contested, compared with 28% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year. 23 of 36 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. The median confinement after a conviction was 8 months, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Based on 147 cases · 2019 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Most Contested Cases Ended in Full Acquittal Of the 36 contested cases that reached a verdict, 23 ended in a full acquittal (64%). That is higher than the 55% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, through a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. A full acquittal means not guilty of all charges. No contested Article 128 case in 2019 ended in a partial acquittal. ## More Cases Were Contested Of the 147 cases, 78 records list the plea. Among those, 42 accused pleaded guilty and 36 contested at least one charge. That makes 46% contested. For all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, only 28% were contested. The plea data is incomplete. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave the plea blank, so the plea and acquittal counts here use only 78 of the 147 cases. In those records, assault cases were contested more often than all Navy and Marine Corps cases. ## Confinement After a Conviction The records show 116 convictions, and 84% of them included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months. The median for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019 was 6 months. These figures are adjudged sentences, the terms announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not only the assault charge. Assault was often charged with more serious offenses. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 18 | 16% | 18% | | Under 6 months | 38 | 33% | 35% | | 6 months to 1 year | 28 | 24% | 23% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 25 | 22% | 19% | | 5 years or more | 7 | 6% | 5% | ## Long Sentences and Court Level 32 of 116 convictions (28%) included confinement longer than one year, compared with 24% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 25 convictions included between 1 and 5 years and 7 included 5 years or more. Both shares were slightly higher than for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable one. At the 88 general courts-martial, 82% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.9 years. At the 59 special courts-martial, 87% included confinement, and the median was 4 months. ## Assault Was Usually Charged With Other Offenses In 88 of the 147 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 120 (sexual assault) was the most common, in 46 cases, followed by Article 92 (orders violation) in 15, Article 80 (attempt) in 11, and Article 107 (false official statement) and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 10 each. The sentence covers the whole case, not the assault charge alone. The records do not show whether an assault charge and a sexual assault charge describe the same incident. ## Punitive Discharges and Dismissals Among convicted enlisted members, 60% received a punitive discharge: 39 bad-conduct discharges and 26 dishonorable discharges. That was the same as the 60% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019\. The records list 5 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A service member without a punitive discharge can still face an administrative separation later. Those actions do not appear in court-martial records. ## Changes From 2018 There were 161 cases in 2018 and 147 in 2019\. The contested share went from 49% to 46%. Full acquittals went from 14 of 34 contested cases that reached a verdict to 23 of 36\. Median confinement went from 10 months to 8 months, and enlisted punitive discharges went from 66% to 60%. The general court-martial share went from 61% to 60%. In groups this size, a few cases can change the figures, so these changes show direction only. | | 2018 | 2019 | | ----------------------------------- | --------- | -------- | | Cases | 161 | 147 | | Contested (of pleas recorded) | 49% | 46% | | Full acquittals (decided contested) | 14 of 34 | 23 of 36 | | Convictions with confinement | 90% | 84% | | Median confinement | 10 months | 8 months | | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 66% | 60% | | General courts-martial | 61% | 60% | ## Ranks and Installations Among the accused with rank recorded, 86 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 45 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 6 were officers or warrant officers. This group is more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, where 57% were junior enlisted. General courts-martial made up 60% of these cases, compared with 43% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Camp Pendleton, California had the most cases, 30, followed by Norfolk, Virginia (26), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (13), San Diego, California (12), and Okinawa, Japan (10). Those 5 installations account for 62% of the 147 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count says little about any one base. ## What the Records Leave Out Article 128 assault is not a covered offense under the later special trial counsel reforms, though such counsel can take a related assault along with a covered offense. Those changes came after these trials. The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They say nothing about the evidence or plea terms. Assaults handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in this data. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in 2019 that charged Article 128 (147 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2018. 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 - [Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2018/) (previous / next) - [How Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases Ended in 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2020/) (previous / next) - [Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-trend-2017-2025/) (the full trend) - [Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2022: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2022/) - [How Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases Ended in 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2025/) - [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Assault Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-sent-2017-2025/) - [Article 128 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ← Previous: [Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2018/)Next: [How Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases Ended in 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-2020/) → **Compare: federal court.** [Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-aggravated-assault-vs-article-128/) **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.