Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, April 2025: The Month in Review
Navy and Marine Corps records list 32 courts-martial in April 2025. Only 1 of 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 27% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2025.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: Navy and Marine Corps records list 32 courts-martial in April 2025. Only 1 of 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 27% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2025. Of convicted enlisted members, 54% received a punitive discharge, compared with 46% for the year.
Few Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal
Of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict, only 1 ended in a full acquittal. That 10% rate was lower than the 27% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2025. Another 4 ended in a partial acquittal, with an acquittal on some charges and a conviction on others.
In April 2024, 4 of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either to every charge or as a mixed plea.
How Many Accused Pleaded Guilty
The plea is recorded in 30 of the 32 records: 20 guilty pleas and 10 not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 33%, slightly lower than the 37% for the year and slightly higher than the 29% in April 2024.
Few Terms Between 6 Months and 1 Year
Of 31 convictions, 23 included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, close to the 4 months for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2025. A quarter of the terms were 2.5 years or more. Only 1 conviction (3%) was between 6 months and 1 year, compared with 16% for the year.
Most other sentences were either short or long. Terms under 6 months were 39% of convictions, and 8 convictions (26%) had no confinement. 8 (26%) were between 1 and 5 years, compared with 11% for the year, and 2 (6%) were 5 years or more. In all, 10 of 31 convictions (32%) were longer than 1 year, compared with 16%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 8 | 26% | 31% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 39% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 1 | 3% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 26% | 11% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 6% | 5% |
Sentences by Court Level
General courts-martial were 14 of the 32 cases (44%), compared with 28% in April 2024. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.
At general courts-martial, 86% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2.1 years. At the 18 special courts-martial, 65% did, and the median was 3 months.
Discharges for Enlisted Members and Officers
Of 26 convicted enlisted members, 14 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (54%), higher than the 46% for the year. Of those 14, 6 were dishonorable. The month also had 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed.
An enlisted member sentenced without a punitive discharge may still face an administrative separation later.
Vehicle, Conspiracy, and Obstruction Charges
All 32 records list the charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 92 (orders violations) was the most common charge, in 7 cases (22%, compared with 24% for the year). Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 6 (19%).
Several articles were each charged in 4 cases (12%), higher than their yearly shares: Article 113, drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle (compared with 4%), Article 131b, obstructing justice (compared with 6%), Article 81, conspiracy (compared with 6%), Article 121, larceny (compared with 8%), and Article 80, attempts (compared with 8%). Article 128 (assault) was less common than usual, at 9%, compared with 16%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 22% | 24% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 19% | 21% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 12% | 8% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 12% | 6% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 12% | 8% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 4 | 12% | 6% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 4 | 12% | 4% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 9% | 16% |
April 2025 Compared With April 2024
There were 32 cases, compared with 47 in April 2024. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 3 months. The general court-martial share was 44%, compared with 28%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 54%, compared with 51%. Convictions with confinement were 74%, compared with 71%.
These are small groups, so a few cases can change the figures. The changes show direction only.
| April 2024 | April 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 47 | 32 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 29% | 33% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 4 of 13 | 1 of 10 |
| Convictions with confinement | 71% | 74% |
| Median confinement | 3 months | 5 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 51% | 54% |
| General courts-martial | 28% | 44% |
Rank, Location, and Law Changes
Among the accused with rank recorded, 18 were junior enlisted members, 9 were NCOs, and 4 were officers. The accused were more senior than in the year as a whole. Camp Pendleton, California tried the most cases, 9. Norfolk, Virginia tried 4, and Quantico, Virginia, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida tried 3 each. Together these locations account for 69% of the cases.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges sentence under new parameters in cases where every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. These records have no offense dates, so they cannot separate old-rule cases from new-rule cases or show whether the changes affected any number here. They also leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and cases handled outside 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 2025 (32 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)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, March 2025: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, May 2025: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review (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.