Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases: What Happened at Trial

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Based on 43 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Contested Cases Ended in a Conviction

Obstruction of justice has had its own article number, Article 131b, since 2019. In the Navy and Marine Corps records, 43 courts-martial between December 2017 and December 2025 included a contested obstruction charge. A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. There were 0 guilty pleas in this group.

Of the 43 contested cases that reached a verdict, 12% ended in a full acquittal. The rate for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases was 31%. Another 12 were partial acquittals: the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. There were 38 convictions in all. The sentence and discharge figures below are based on those 38.

Median Confinement Was Much Longer

Confinement was part of 66% of the 38 convictions. The median confinement was 1.7 years. The median across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases was 7 months.

Confinement longer than one year was imposed in 14 of 38 convictions (37%), compared with 24% in the comparison group. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 6 convictions (16%), compared with 8%. No confinement was imposed in 13 convictions (34%), the same share as in contested cases overall. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

General and Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial tried 24 of these cases, and special courts-martial tried 19. The general court-martial share was 56%, compared with 53% across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases.

At general courts-martial, 86% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2.2 years. At special courts-martial, 41% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 6 months. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

Punitive Discharges and Officers

Of enlisted convictions, 56% included a punitive discharge: 11 bad-conduct discharges and 7 dishonorable discharges. The rate in the comparison group was 50%.

The group includes 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 0 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Obstruction Was Rarely the Only Charge

Only 2 of the 43 cases charged Article 131b alone. The most common other charges were Article 92 (orders violation) in 14 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 10, Article 107 (false official statement) in 9, Article 134 (general article) in 7, and Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) in 6.

Most cases included other offenses, so the sentences above describe whole cases. The records cannot separate the sentence for the obstruction charge.

Rank and Installations

Among the accused with a recorded rank, 14 were junior enlisted, 21 were NCOs, and 3 were officers. That group was more senior than contested Navy and Marine Corps cases overall.

Camp Pendleton, California, Norfolk, Virginia, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 5 cases each. San Diego, California had 4, and Mayport, Florida had 3. Those five locations account for 51% of the 43 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Case Counts by Year

The yearly count was 1 in 2017, 4 in 2018, 3 in 2019, 4 in 2020, 9 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 10 in 2025. The records cannot show the reasons for these changes.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. Contested counts here use only the records that list a plea, so the early yearly counts may be incomplete. Cases from 2017 and 2018 came before the separate obstruction article. The records here group them with later Article 131b cases.

Law Changes and the Limits of the Records

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records list trial dates but not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both sets of rules.

Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice and Perjury: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences

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.