How Navy-Marine Corps Attempt Cases Ended in 2020
The 2020 records list 40 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with an Article 80 attempt charge. The median confinement was 1.3 years, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 80 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2020
Short answer: The 2020 records list 40 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with an Article 80 attempt charge. The median confinement was 1.3 years, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Of convicted enlisted members, 79% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% across the service.
A Year of Lighter Sentences Than 2019
The largest changes from 2019 were in sentencing. Median confinement went from 2 years in 2019 to 1.3 years in 2020. The share of enlisted convictions with a punitive discharge went from 95% to 79%. Convictions with confinement went from 100% to 92%.
The cases also changed. The number of cases went from 44 to 40. The contested share went from 42% to 32%, and the general court-martial share went from 86% to 70%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 2 of 11 to 0 of 7. With counts this small, a few cases can change any of these figures, so they show direction, not precise size.
| 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 44 | 40 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 42% | 32% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 11 | 0 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 92% |
| Median confinement | 2 years | 1.3 years |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 95% | 79% |
| General courts-martial | 86% | 70% |
Sentences Compared With the Service
Each of the 40 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 37 of those sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 1.3 years, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020. A quarter of these sentences were 3 years or longer.
These figures are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence also covers all the charges in a case, not just the attempt.
Confinement by Length
Confinement of more than one year followed 22 of the 40 convictions (55%), compared with 26% across the service. Of those, 17 convictions (42%) were between 1 and 5 years, and 5 (12%) were 5 years or more.
Shorter sentences also appear. Another 8 convictions (20%) were under 6 months, and 7 (18%) were 6 months to 1 year. Only 3 convictions (8%) carried no confinement, compared with 15% across the service.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 8% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 20% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 18% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 17 | 42% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 12% | 6% |
Sentences by Court Level
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, while a special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Of these 40 cases, 28 were tried at a general court-martial and 12 at a special court-martial. The general court-martial share was 70%, compared with 41% across the service.
Confinement was about as common at both levels: 93% of general court-martial convictions and 92% of special court-martial convictions. The median confinement was 2 years at the general level and 3 months at the special level.
Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge, bad-conduct or dishonorable, followed 79% of enlisted convictions: 17 dishonorable and 14 bad-conduct. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020, the share was 62%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not show administrative separations.
No officers or warrant officers appear among the accused this year, so no dismissals are recorded. The enlisted discharge share was lower than the 95% in 2019. It was still higher than the service figure for 2020.
Other Charges in the Same Cases
In 3 of the 40 cases, Article 80 was charged alone. The other cases also charged other offenses. The most common were Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 16 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 13, Article 134 (general article) in 11, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 11, and Article 112a (drug) in 7.
A court-martial sentence covers every charge in the case. The confinement and discharge figures on this page are for the whole case, not for the attempt charge alone.
Pleas and the People Charged
Only 22 of the 40 records list a plea. Among them, 15 accused pleaded guilty and 7 entered not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 32%, about the same as the 30% across the service in 2020.
Among the accused with rank recorded, 25 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) and 14 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), with no officers or warrant officers. That mix is similar to all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020, where 64% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Installations With the Most Cases
Bremerton, Washington tried 7 of these cases, the most of any location. Camp Pendleton, California had 5, San Diego, California and Okinawa, Japan had 4 each, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had 3. Together they account for 58% of the 40 cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds, so a high count alone does not show a problem at a particular base.
What the Records Do Not Show
The records show when a trial happened, not when the offense occurred. They do not describe evidence or plea terms. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not in them. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the plea figures above use only the 22 records that list one.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 80 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 2020 that charged Article 80 (40 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2019.
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 80 (Attempts): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Attempt Cases Ended in 2019 (previous / next)
- Attempt at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2021: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Fewer or More? Attempt Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- Attempt at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2024: The Year in Numbers
- Attempt at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2025: The Year in Numbers
- How Navy-Marine Corps Attempt Cases Ended in 2018
- Article 80 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025
- Article 80 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.