What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in April 2021
The Navy and Marine Corps tried 47 courts-martial in April 2021. Of 17 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (41%), compared with 26% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2021.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps tried 47 courts-martial in April 2021. Of 17 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (41%), compared with 26% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2021. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 13% of cases with a charge list, compared with 9% for the year.
More Full Acquittals Than Across the Year
Of 17 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal. That 41% rate was higher than the 26% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2021. Another 5 (29%) ended in a partial acquittal, where the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either to every charge or in a mixed plea. The acquittal rate here counts only contested cases that reached a verdict, not every trial in the month.
More Cases Were Contested
Pleas are listed for 45 of the 47 records. Of those, 28 were guilty pleas and 17 were contested. The contested share was 38%, higher than the 32% for the year.
Guilty plea rates differed by charge. Article 112a (drug) cases ended in a guilty plea 77% of the time (10 of 13), the highest rate among the most common charges. Article 128 (assault) cases ended in a guilty plea only 25% of the time (4 of 16). The records do not say why any accused chose to plead guilty or to contest.
Convictions by Charge
All 13 drug cases ended with a conviction on Article 112a, and the median confinement in those cases was 7 months. Article 134 (the general article) cases ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 11 cases (91%), with a median of 1.2 years.
Assault charges ended in a conviction less often: 9 of 16 cases (56%) ended in an assault conviction, with a median of 6 months. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) ended in a conviction on that article in 4 of 9 cases, the lowest rate among the most common charges, with a median of 6 months. A case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 16 | 9 (56%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 13 (100%) | 7 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 10 (91%) | 1.2 years |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 4 (4 of 9) | 6 months |
Charges
Charge lists exist for 45 of the 47 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Assault was charged in 16 cases (36%, compared with 32% for the year), drug offenses in 13 (29%, compared with 25%), and the general article in 11 (24%, compared with 26%).
Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 6 cases, a 13% share, compared with 9% for 2021. Article 92 (orders violation) was less common: 16%, compared with 21% for the year.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 16 | 36% | 32% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 29% | 25% |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 24% | 26% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 20% | 19% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 7 | 16% | 13% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 16% | 21% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 6 | 13% | 9% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 9% | 10% |
Sentences Were About the Same as the Year
There were 38 convictions, and 84% included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, the same as the 7-month median for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2021. A quarter were 1.2 years or longer.
Terms over 1 year were in 8 of the 38 convictions (21%), compared with 26% for the year. Terms from 1 to 5 years were 13%, lower than the yearly 21%. Terms of 5 years or more were 8%, slightly higher than the yearly 5%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 16% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 34% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 29% | 26% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 13% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 8% | 5% |
More General Than Special Courts-Martial
Of the 47 cases, 26 were general courts-martial, a 55% share, compared with 48% for the year. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to 1 year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.
At the 26 general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.2 years, and 50% of cases were contested. At the 21 special courts-martial, the median was 4 months, and 24% of cases were contested.
Discharges, Rank, and Location
Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 21 received a punitive discharge: 15 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. For the year, the share was 64%. Of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Among the accused with rank recorded, 31 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 10 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 were officers or warrant officers. This is similar to the year, when 69% were junior enlisted members. Camp Pendleton, California (8), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (7), Mayport, Florida (5), Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (5), and Pensacola, Florida (3) together account for 60% of the cases.
What the Records Do Not Include
The records list trial dates, not the dates of the alleged offenses. They also omit the evidence, the plea terms, and anything resolved through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in April 2021 (47 cases), compared with the whole year.
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)
- March 2021 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 46 Cases (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, May 2021: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial (the whole year)
- April 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases
- April 2020 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 18 Cases
- August 2017 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 37 Cases
- August 2019 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 34 Cases
- 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.