General Article at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 134 (general article) in 68 cases in 2023. Most ended in guilty pleas: 21% were contested, compared with 32% across the service. Of the 68 cases, 67 ended in a conviction on at least one charge.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 134 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2023
Short answer: Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 134 (general article) in 68 cases in 2023. Most ended in guilty pleas: 21% were contested, compared with 32% across the service. Of the 68 cases, 67 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. The median confinement was 1.5 years, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023.
Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty
Every 2023 record lists a plea: 54 guilty pleas and 14 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 21%, lower than the 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
The contested share also fell from 33% in 2022.
Verdicts in Contested Cases
Of the 14 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal. That is a 7% full-acquittal rate, compared with 22% across the service. Another 3 were partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.
As a result, 67 of the 68 cases ended with at least one conviction. A partial acquittal still leads to sentencing on the remaining guilty findings.
Sentences Were Longer Than Service-Wide
Confinement was part of 60 of the 67 sentences (90%). The median confinement was 1.5 years, the same as in 2022. A quarter of the sentences were 2.7 years or longer. The service median was 6 months.
Confinement longer than one year was imposed in 32 of 67 convictions (48%), compared with 23% service-wide. Sentences between 1 and 5 years made up 28 convictions (42%), compared with 19%. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 4 (6%), compared with 4%. Shorter sentences were less common than across the service. Sentences under 6 months made up 16 convictions (24%), compared with 33%. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 12 (18%), compared with 23%. Only 7 convictions (10%) included no confinement, compared with 21% for the service. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 10% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 16 | 24% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 12 | 18% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 28 | 42% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 6% | 4% |
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
Of the 68 cases, 49 were general courts-martial (72%), compared with 46% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023. The other 19 were special courts-martial.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. At general courts-martial, 92% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2 years. At special courts-martial, 84% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 3 months.
Punitive Discharges Were More Common
Of enlisted convictions, 79% included a punitive discharge: 29 bad-conduct discharges and 21 dishonorable discharges. The service-wide share in 2023 was 63%.
The records list 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and none was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Other Charges in These Cases
In 30 of the 68 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 92 (orders violation) was the most common, in 9 cases. Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) appeared in 6, Article 128 (assault) in 5, and Article 80 (attempt) and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 4 each.
The records do not show which Article 134 offense was charged in each case.
Changes From 2022
Cases fell from 70 to 68. The contested share fell from 33% to 21%. Full acquittals went from 0 of 23 contested cases that reached a verdict to 1 of 14. Convictions with confinement rose from 84% to 90%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members rose from 70% to 79%. The general court-martial share rose from 66% to 72%. Median confinement stayed at 1.5 years.
In groups this size, a few cases can change the results. These changes show direction, not precise trends.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 70 | 68 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 33% | 21% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 23 | 1 of 14 |
| Convictions with confinement | 84% | 90% |
| Median confinement | 1.5 years | 1.5 years |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 70% | 79% |
| General courts-martial | 66% | 72% |
Rank and Installations
Among the accused with a recorded rank, 43 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 21 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. That rank mix is similar to all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023, where 65% were junior enlisted.
San Diego, California tried 8 cases. Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 7 each, and Okinawa, Japan and MCAS Yuma, Arizona tried 5 each. Those installations account for 47% of the 68 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
What the Records Do Not Show
Only cases tried by court-martial are counted. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and allegations with no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 134 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 2023 that charged Article 134 (68 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2022.
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 134 (General Article): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- General Article at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2022: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- How Navy-Marine Corps General Article Cases Ended in 2024 (previous / next)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps General Article Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 134, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- General Article at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017: The Year in Numbers
- General Article at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers
- How Navy-Marine Corps General Article Cases Ended in 2019
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps General Article Conviction?
- Article 134 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.