Attempt at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2024: The Year in Numbers

Trends › By Offense › Article 80 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2024

Based on 27 cases · 2024 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Small Group With Longer Sentences

There were 27 cases tried between January 2024 and December 2024. In a group this small, a few cases can change any percentage on this page. Sentences were still much longer than across the service.

Of 26 convictions on at least one charge, 23 included confinement. The median confinement was 1 year. The median for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024 was 5 months. A quarter of these sentences were 3.2 years or longer.

All of these are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence also covers every charge in the case, not only the attempt.

Confinement by Length

Confinement of more than one year followed 11 of 26 convictions (42%), compared with 22% across the service. Of those, 7 convictions (27%) were from 1 to 5 years. Another 4 (15%) were 5 years or more, compared with 7% across the service.

Short sentences were less common. Only 3 convictions (12%) carried no confinement, compared with 25% across the service. Another 5 (19%) brought less than 6 months, compared with 38%. The band from 6 months to 1 year had 7 convictions (27%), compared with 15%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Discharges After Conviction

Of 23 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge: 12 dishonorable and 7 bad-conduct. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024, that share was 58%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.

A punitive discharge is part of the sentence. Members whose sentences do not include one can still be separated administratively. These records do not show administrative separations.

Many Cases Charged the Attempt Alone

In 9 of the 27 cases, Article 80 was the only article charged. When other charges appeared, Article 134 (general article) was the most common, in 6 cases. Article 121 (larceny), Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry), and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) each appeared in 3, and Article 128 (assault) in 2.

Sentences cover every charge in a case. The confinement figures above include these other offenses in the cases where they were charged.

Pleas Recorded

Of the 25 records that list a plea, 18 show a guilty plea and 7 show a not-guilty or mixed plea. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested. The 28% contested share is lower than the 34% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024.

No verdict breakdown for the contested attempt cases is part of this data, so this page gives no acquittal figure for 2024. The plea counts show that guilty pleas were more common than contested pleas, as they were across the service that year.

Rank and Court Level

NCOs made up 52% of the accused, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) 44%, and officers 4%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024, junior enlisted members were 58% of the accused. The accused in attempt cases were more senior.

General courts-martial heard 21 of the 27 cases (78%), and special courts-martial heard the rest. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge; a general court-martial has no such limit.

Installations

Okinawa, Japan and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay each tried 4 of these cases. Camp Pendleton, California, San Diego, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina each tried 3. Together these five account for 63% of the 27 cases. The counts are low, and larger bases try more cases of all kinds, so a high count alone does not show a problem at any one location.

New Rules in This Period

Recent law changes apply to some trials from this year. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. And when every guilty finding involves an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.

Both rules depend on the date of the offense, which the records do not include. The 2024 trials include cases under the old rules and cases under the new rules, and the data cannot separate them.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records cover charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

They also list trial dates, not offense dates. For that reason, the 2023 law changes described above cannot be matched to individual cases.

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.

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.