Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, July 2018: The Month in Review
The records list 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from July 2018. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 42% of cases with charges listed, compared with 26% for both services across 2018. Only 7% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% for the year.
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Short answer: The records list 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from July 2018. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 42% of cases with charges listed, compared with 26% for both services across 2018. Only 7% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% for the year.
Almost No Contested Cases
Of the 38 records, 15 list a plea, a frequent gap in Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020. Among those 15, 14 were guilty pleas and 1 was a not-guilty or mixed plea, which counts as contested.
The contested share was 7%, compared with 28% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2018. The 1 contested case that reached a verdict did not end in a full acquittal. With so few pleas recorded, 1 case can change the share by a large amount. In July 2017, the contested share was 53%.
Drug and Orders Charges
Charges are listed for 36 of the 38 cases, and each article counts once per case. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) appeared in 15 cases (42%), compared with 26% for the year. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 25%, compared with 13%.
Assault was less common than usual. Article 128 appeared in 19% of cases, compared with 34% for 2018, and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) in 8%, compared with 16%.
Article 134 (the general article) and Article 107 (false official statements) each appeared in 11%. Article 121 (larceny) and Article 86 (AWOL) each appeared in 8%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 42% | 26% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 25% | 13% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 19% | 34% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 11% | 15% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 11% | 11% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 3 | 8% | 16% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 8% | 11% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 3 | 8% | 6% |
Results on the Leading Charges
All 9 cases charging Article 92 ended in a conviction on that article, and the median confinement was 9 months. In 14 of 15 drug cases (93%), the accused was convicted under Article 112a, and the median was also 9 months.
In the same month, nearly every recorded plea was guilty. A guilty plea usually leads directly to a finding of guilty on the charges it covers, though the records do not show which charges each plea addressed.
A single 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. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 14 (93%) | 9 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 9 months |
Sentence Lengths
There were convictions in 37 of the 38 cases, and 29 of them included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 7 months for 2018.
Convictions with no confinement made up 8 convictions (22%), compared with 15% for the year. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were the largest group, at 30% compared with 23%. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 8 of 37 convictions (22%), compared with 30% for 2018. Of those, 2 were 5 years or more.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge of conviction.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 8 | 22% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 27% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 30% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 16% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 5% | 9% |
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
The month had 12 general and 26 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 32%, lower than the 45% for the year.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. At that level, the median confinement was 1.5 years. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. At that level, the median was 6 months.
Punitive Discharges
Of convicted enlisted members, 69% received a punitive discharge, about the same as the 66% for 2018. There were 21 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges.
Only a general court-martial can adjudge a dishonorable discharge. The month had 12 general courts-martial and 26 special courts-martial.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later, which these records do not track.
July 2017 Compared
Both Julys had 38 cases. The median confinement was 8 months in both months, and punitive discharges were 69% in both.
The largest change was in pleas. The contested share fell from 53% to 7%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 7 of 10 to 0 of 1. Convictions with confinement fell from 84% to 78%, and the general court-martial share fell from 37% to 32%. In small groups, a few cases can change a percentage, so these changes show direction only.
| July 2017 | July 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 38 | 38 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 53% | 7% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 10 | 0 of 1 |
| Convictions with confinement | 84% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 69% | 69% |
| General courts-martial | 37% | 32% |
Rank and Location
Among the accused with rank recorded, 26 were junior enlisted, 10 were NCOs, and 0 were officers. That mix was more junior than the year.
Camp Pendleton, California, had 11 cases, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 6. Norfolk, Virginia, and Bremerton, Washington, had 4 each, and San Diego, California, had 2. These five account for 71% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Rules and Limits
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial, and introduced written plea agreements. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations.
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 July 2018 (38 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, June 2018: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in August 2018 (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (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.