June 2017 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases
The records list 43 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2017. The median adjudged confinement was 2.5 years, compared with 8 months for all of 2017. Terms of 5 years or more made up 32% of the 38 convictions, compared with 10% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records list 43 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2017. The median adjudged confinement was 2.5 years, compared with 8 months for all of 2017. Terms of 5 years or more made up 32% of the 38 convictions, compared with 10% for the year.
More Long Sentences Than the Year
Of the 43 cases, 38 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 35 of those sentences included confinement (92%). The median confinement was 2.5 years, longer than the 8-month median across the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2017.
These are adjudged sentences, meaning what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, so a long term can reflect several offenses together.
Sentence Lengths
Terms of 5 years or more were the largest group, with 12 convictions (32%), compared with 10% for the year. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 18 of 38 convictions (47%), compared with 31%.
Shorter terms were less common. Sentences under 6 months made up 26% of convictions, compared with 37% for the year. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 18%, compared with 23%. Only 3 convictions (8%) included no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 8% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 26% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 18% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 16% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 12 | 32% | 10% |
More General Courts-Martial Than the Year
General courts-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial are limited to one year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. In June 2017, 22 of the 43 cases were general courts-martial (51%), compared with 44% for the year.
Sentences differed by level. At the 22 general courts-martial, the median confinement was 7 years. At the 21 special courts-martial, the median was 3 months.
Results on the Most Common Charges
For the most common articles, most cases ended in a conviction on that article. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 13 cases, and 12 (92%) ended in a conviction under it. The median confinement was 7 years. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) ended in a conviction in 10 of 11 cases (91%), and the median was 2.7 years.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9 cases, and the median was 12 years. Article 134 (general article) ended in a conviction in 8 of 8 cases, and the median was 8 years. A single case can show 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 | 13 | 12 (92%) | 7 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 10 (91%) | 2.7 years |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 12 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 8 years |
What Was Charged
Charges are listed for 40 of the 43 records, and each article counts once per case. Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge, in 13 cases (32%), lower than its 37% share for the year. Drug charges under Article 112a were second, at 28%, compared with 31%.
Sex-offense articles were more common than in the year: Article 120 at 22% compared with 19%, and Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) at 15% compared with 10%. Article 134 appeared in 20% of cases, compared with 13%. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 15%, and Article 80 (attempts) and Article 81 (conspiracy) in 10% each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 13 | 32% | 37% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 28% | 31% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 22% | 19% |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 20% | 13% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 15% | 10% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 15% | 16% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 10% | 10% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 4 | 10% | 8% |
Discharges and Dismissals
Among convicted enlisted members, 25 of 36 received a punitive discharge: 15 dishonorable and 10 bad-conduct. Across 2017 the share was 68%. There were more dishonorable discharges than bad-conduct discharges. A dishonorable discharge is available only at a general court-martial.
Both of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Few Pleas Recorded
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and only 16 of the 43 records list one here. Of those, 12 were guilty pleas and 4 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 25%, about the same as 26% for the year. With so few recorded pleas, this figure shows little.
Who Was Tried, and Where
Among the accused with rank recorded, 28 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 9 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 were officers or warrant officers. That mix was more junior than the year, when 66% were junior enlisted.
Camp Pendleton, California, had the most cases, with 8. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 7, and Twentynine Palms, California, had 5. Bremerton, Washington, and Norfolk, Virginia, had 4 each. These five account for 65% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Before the 2019 Law Change, and Other 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 capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. None of those rules applied here.
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or misconduct handled outside a court-martial. They give trial dates, not offense dates.
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 June 2017 (43 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)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in May 2017 (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in July 2017 (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2017 (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.