Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases in 2021
In 2021, 133 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 128 (assault). 43% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 24 of 55 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 128 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2021
Short answer: In 2021, 133 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 128 (assault). 43% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 24 of 55 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. The median confinement after a conviction was 6 months, slightly lower than the 7-month median for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021.
More Full Acquittals Than for All Cases
Of 55 contested Article 128 cases that reached a verdict in 2021, 24 ended in a full acquittal (44%). The rate for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021 was 26%.
Another 15 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. A partial acquittal still includes a conviction, so those cases went on to sentencing.
More Accused Pleaded Not Guilty
Plea data is almost complete for 2021: 128 of the 133 records list it. Of those, 73 accused pleaded guilty and 55 contested at least one charge. A contested case is any in which the accused pleads not guilty to one or more charges, so mixed pleas count here.
The 43% contested share is higher than the 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021. Contested cases were more common at general courts-martial: 60% of general courts-martial were contested, compared with 23% of special courts-martial.
Shorter Sentences Than the Service as a Whole
86% of the 109 convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 7 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 21 of 109 convictions (19%) included confinement longer than one year, less often than the 26% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021.
38 convictions (35%) included under 6 months of confinement, and 35 (32%) included between 6 months and 1 year. Only 6 included 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 15 | 14% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 38 | 35% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 35 | 32% | 26% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 15 | 14% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 6 | 6% | 5% |
What Each Court Level Imposed
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 cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.
The 2021 assault cases included 71 general courts-martial (53%), compared with 48% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases, and 62 special courts-martial. The median confinement was 1 year at the general level and 3 months at the special level.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Among 103 convicted enlisted members, 59 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (57%). That was less often than the 64% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021. Only 15 of the 59 were dishonorable.
The records list 5 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one can still be followed by an administrative separation. These records do not track separations.
Changes From 2020
Most measures were lower than in 2020. The case count went from 135 to 133, and the contested share went from 48% to 43%. Median confinement went from 9 months to 6 months. Enlisted punitive discharges went from 67% to 57%, and convictions with confinement went from 93% to 86%.
Full acquittals went from 17 of 30 contested cases that reached a verdict to 24 of 55. The general court-martial share went from 51% to 53%. In small groups, a few cases can change the figures, so these changes show direction only.
| 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 135 | 133 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 48% | 43% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 17 of 30 | 24 of 55 |
| Convictions with confinement | 93% | 86% |
| Median confinement | 9 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 67% | 57% |
| General courts-martial | 51% | 53% |
Other Charges in These Cases
Assault was the only charge in 29 of 133 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) was also charged in 54 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) in 29, Article 134 (general article) in 22, Article 115 (communicating threats) in 19, and Article 80 (attempt) in 14.
The adjudged sentence covers all of the charges together. The records do not show whether an assault charge and a sexual assault charge describe the same incident.
Rank and Location
Among the accused with rank recorded, 88 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 38 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 6 were officers or warrant officers. This rank mix is about the same as for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021, where 69% were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had the most cases (25), followed by Camp Pendleton, California (15), Norfolk, Virginia (12), and San Diego, California and Jacksonville, Florida (10 each). These 5 locations account for 54% of the 133 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not show a problem at a base.
What the Records Do Not Show
Under later reforms, assault is not a covered offense, but a special trial counsel handling a covered offense may also take a related assault. Those rules took effect after these trials.
Court records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They leave out the evidence, plea-agreement terms, and any conduct resolved outside a court-martial, such as nonjudicial punishment.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in 2021 that charged Article 128 (133 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2020.
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
- Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases Ended in 2020 (previous / next)
- Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2022: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers
- Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019: The Year in Numbers
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Assault Conviction?
- Article 128 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
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.