Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review
In 2019, 455 Navy and Marine Corps cases were tried by court-martial, according to these records. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 15% in the other services in 2019. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months in the other services.
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Short answer: In 2019, 455 Navy and Marine Corps cases were tried by court-martial, according to these records. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 15% in the other services in 2019. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months in the other services.
A More Senior Group of Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 57% of the Navy and Marine Corps accused in 2019, NCOs were 39%, and officers were 4%. In the other services in 2019, junior enlisted members were 68%. The Navy and Marine Corps tried a larger share of NCOs.
Camp Pendleton, California (74), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (62), Norfolk, Virginia (51), San Diego, California (51), and Bremerton, Washington (47) together tried 63% of the year's 455 cases. Large installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count is not a judgment on any one base.
Assault More Common, Drugs Less Common
The charge lists cover 428 of 455 cases, and each article is counted once in a case. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of cases and Article 80 (attempt) in 10%. In the other services in 2019, the figures were 15% and 2%.
Article 112a (drug) was charged in 30% of cases here, compared with 51% in the other services. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 12%, compared with 23%. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 11% of cases, compared with 6%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 147 | 34% | 15% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 128 | 30% | 51% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 71 | 17% | 14% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 60 | 14% | 8% |
| Art. 134 General article | 50 | 12% | 23% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 47 | 11% | 6% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 44 | 10% | 2% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 35 | 8% | 7% |
Confinement in the Middle Range
Confinement was part of 82% of the 397 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months. In the other services in 2019, the median was 4 months. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Terms longer than 1 year were more common here: 97 of 397 convictions (24%), compared with 20%. Terms from 6 months to 1 year were 23% of convictions, compared with 15%. Terms of 5 years or more were less common: 5% of convictions here, compared with 8% in the other services.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 72 | 18% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 137 | 35% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 91 | 23% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 77 | 19% | 12% |
| 5 years or more | 20 | 5% | 8% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than in 2018
A punitive discharge followed 60% of enlisted convictions (169 bad-conduct, 59 dishonorable), compared with 57% in the other services in 2019. In 2018 the Navy and Marine Corps share was 66%. Of 16 convicted officers or warrant officers, 4 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. There were more bad-conduct discharges than dishonorable discharges. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation, which is not in these records.
What the Plea Records Show
Only 230 of the 455 records list a plea, because Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those, 64 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 166 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 28%, the same as in 2018. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The alternative is a guilty plea to every charge.
Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 91% of the time (61 of 67). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 17% of the time (7 of 42). The records say nothing about the reasons for a plea.
Verdicts and Findings for Each Article
Of the 64 contested cases that reached a verdict, 55% ended in a full acquittal. In 2018, the figure was 28 of 61. Many records lack a plea, so the figure describes only part of the year's contested trials. 1 contested case ended in a partial acquittal: the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
Article 92 cases most often ended in a conviction on that article (67 of 71, or 94%). Article 120 cases least often did (33 of 60, or 55%). The median confinement was 3 years for Article 120 convictions, 8 months for Article 128 convictions, and 6 months each for Article 112a and Article 92 convictions.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 147 | 116 (79%) | 8 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 128 | 117 (91%) | 6 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 71 | 67 (94%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 60 | 33 (55%) | 3 years |
General and Special Courts-Martial
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The records show 195 general and 260 special courts-martial in 2019. The general court-martial share was 43%, compared with 50% in the other services in 2019.
At general courts-martial, 90% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.5 years. At special courts-martial, 76% did, and the median was 4 months.
Compared With 2018
There were 455 cases in 2019, compared with 495 in 2018. The contested share was 28% in both years. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 7 months. Convictions with confinement were 82%, compared with 85%. In yearly groups of this size, a few cases can change a percentage.
Trial records show what was charged, pleaded, found, and sentenced. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, offense dates, or anything handled outside a court-martial.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 495 | 455 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 28% | 28% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 28 of 61 | 35 of 64 |
| Convictions with confinement | 85% | 82% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 66% | 60% |
| General courts-martial | 45% | 43% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every Navy and Marine Corps court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2019 (455 cases), compared with the other services in 2019 and with 2018.
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
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2020 (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2023: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2017
- 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.