Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, April 2024: The Month in Review
Navy and Marine Corps records show 47 courts-martial in April 2024. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 5 months for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2024. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 28% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 22% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: Navy and Marine Corps records show 47 courts-martial in April 2024. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 5 months for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2024. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 28% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 22% for the year.
Short Confinement Terms
Of 42 convictions, 30 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, lower than the 5-month median for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2024. A quarter were 10 months or more.
Long sentences were uncommon. Only 4 of the 42 convictions (10%) carried more than 1 year, compared with 22% for the year. Terms of more than 1 year and under 5 years were 7%, compared with 15%. 1 conviction (2%) was 5 years or more, compared with 7%. Most other sentences were short: 18 convictions (43%) carried under 6 months, and 12 (29%) had no confinement. All of 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 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 12 | 29% | 25% |
| Under 6 months | 18 | 43% | 38% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 19% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 7% | 15% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 2% | 7% |
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial were 34 of the 47 cases. Only 13 were general courts-martial, a 28% share, compared with 38% for the year. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.
The median confinement was 11 months at general courts-martial and 48 days at special courts-martial. The contested share was 25% at general courts-martial and 30% at special courts-martial.
The General Article Was the Most Common Charge
Charge lists exist for 46 of the 47 cases, and a single case can count under more than one article. Article 134 was charged in 13 cases, a 28% share, compared with 22% for 2024. Article 128 (assault), Article 112a (drug offenses), and Article 92 (orders violations) were each charged in 8 cases (17%), all close to their yearly shares.
Some less common charges differed from the year. Article 87b (offenses against correctional custody) was charged in 3 cases (7%), compared with 1% for the year. Article 107 (false official statements) was 9%, compared with 5%. Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) was charged in 4 cases (9%), lower than the yearly 13%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 13 | 28% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 8 | 17% | 14% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 8 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 9% | 13% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 9% | 5% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 7% | 5% |
| Art. 87b Offenses against correctional custody | 3 | 7% | 1% |
Convictions on the Most Common Charges
All 13 Article 134 cases ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 4 months. All 8 assault cases also ended in an assault conviction, and their median was the longest of the group, 10 months.
Drug charges and orders violations each ended in a conviction on that article in 6 of 8 cases. The median was 6 months in the drug cases and 7 days in the orders cases.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 13 | 13 (100%) | 4 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 10 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 8 | 6 (6 of 8) | 6 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 8 | 6 (6 of 8) | 7 days |
Contested Cases and Acquittals
The plea is listed in 45 of the 47 records: 32 guilty pleas and 13 not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 29%, lower than the 34% for the year. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.
Of the 13 contested cases with a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (31%), higher than the 27% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2024. Another 5 (38%) ended in a partial acquittal, with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Of 39 convicted enlisted members, 20 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (51%), compared with 58% for the year. Only 2 of those were dishonorable. Of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not prevent a later administrative separation.
More Cases Than April 2023
April 2023 had 23 cases and April 2024 had 47. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 6 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 51%, compared with 67%. The contested share was 29%, compared with 32%. The general court-martial share was 28%, compared with 30%.
These are small groups, and a few cases can change them. The changes show direction, not exact size.
| April 2023 | April 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 23 | 47 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 32% | 29% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 7 | 4 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 71% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 67% | 51% |
| General courts-martial | 30% | 28% |
Rank, Places, and Rules
Among the accused with rank recorded, 29 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 14 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. The accused were more junior than in the year, when 58% were junior enlisted members. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (6), San Diego, California (5), Camp Pendleton, California (4), Quantico, Virginia (4), and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina (3) account for 47% of the cases.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges sentence under new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. These records lack offense dates, so this month includes cases under both sets of rules. The data cannot show whether the changes affected any figure above. The records also omit the evidence, the plea terms, and cases handled without a court-martial.
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 2024 (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 2024 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 34 Cases (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, May 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2024 (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.