How Navy-Marine Corps Domestic Violence Cases Ended in 2023

Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Navy-Marine Corps, 2023

Based on 30 cases · 2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Every Case Ended in a Conviction

Each of the 30 cases tried in 2023 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those, 24 sentences included confinement (80%), and 6 had none.

Most cases were guilty pleas. Of the 30 accused, 22 pleaded guilty and 8 contested at least one charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to one or more charges, through a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. The 27% contested share was lower than the 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023.

Most Confinement Was a Year or Less

The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6-month median for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023. The most common range was under 6 months: 11 convictions (37%). Next was 6 months to 1 year: 9 convictions (30%), compared with 23% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases.

Terms longer than one year were less common than for all Navy and Marine Corps cases: 4 of 30 convictions (13%), compared with 23%. Of those, 3 were between 1 and 5 years and 1 was 5 years or more. All of these are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Special Courts-Martial Heard Most Cases

Only 9 of the 30 cases were general courts-martial (30%), lower than the 46% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023. The other 21 were special courts-martial.

The court level sets the maximum sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable one. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, and only it can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Most Discharges Were Bad-Conduct Discharges

Of 29 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge: 16 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. For all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023, 63% of convicted enlisted members received one.

The records include 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. Dismissal is the officer counterpart to a punitive discharge. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not cover separations.

Often the Only Charge

Article 128b was the only charge in 14 of 30 cases. In the rest, the most common other charges were Article 92 (orders violation), in 5 cases, and Article 128 (assault), in 4. Article 90 (disobeying an officer), Article 119b (child endangerment), and Article 120 (sexual assault) each appeared in 2.

When other charges are present, the adjudged sentence covers all of them together. A sentence in a case with several articles does not measure the domestic violence charge alone.

Rank of the Accused

By rank, the accused included 18 junior enlisted members, 11 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group is more senior than the accused in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023.

NCOs are the mid-career and senior enlisted ranks (E-5 to E-9). The records show rank at the time of trial, not total years of service.

Cases by Installation

No installation had more than 4 cases. Quantico, Virginia and Camp Pendleton, California had 4 cases each. MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Florida, and Okinawa, Japan had 3 each. Those 5 installations together account for 57% of the 30 cases.

Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a higher count at one location does not by itself show a problem with this offense there.

A Newer Article, a Covered Offense

Article 128b exists only for offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Conduct before that date was charged under other articles, so this article has a shorter history than most in the records.

Domestic violence under Article 128b is also a covered offense, one of the categories for which special trial counsel, rather than commanders, decide whether to prosecute. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to any individual case.

What These Records Do Not Show

The data covers only courts-martial. It does not describe the evidence or plea terms. It leaves out domestic violence allegations handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no formal action.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b 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.