Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, June 2021: The Month in Review
The records show 41 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2021. Contested cases were more common than across the year: 44% of cases with a plea recorded, compared with 32% for all of 2021.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 41 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2021. Contested cases were more common than across the year: 44% of cases with a plea recorded, compared with 32% for all of 2021. Long sentences were also more common: 13 of 35 convictions (37%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 26% for the year.
A Month of Contested Trials
Pleas appear in 36 of the 41 records. Of those, 20 accused pleaded guilty and 16 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 44%, higher than the 32% for the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021.
Guilty pleas differed by charge. Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 73% of the time (8 of 11), the highest among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 40% of the time (4 of 10). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.
Verdicts After a Not-Guilty Plea
Of the 16 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (19%). That was lower than the 26% for the year. Another 5 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
Sexual Assault Charges Were More Common
The records list charges for 37 of the 41 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 11 cases (30%), compared with 19% for the year. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) appeared in 5 cases (14%), compared with 5%.
The 4 most common articles were each charged in 11 or 12 cases. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) and Article 134 (general article) appeared in 12 cases each (32%). Article 120 and Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 11 cases each (30%). All 4 were charged more often than across the year.
Article 128 (assault) was charged less often, in 27% of cases compared with 32%. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 14% of cases, and Article 131b (obstructing justice) appeared in 11%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 32% | 25% |
| Art. 134 General article | 12 | 32% | 26% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 11 | 30% | 19% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 11 | 30% | 21% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 27% | 32% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 5 | 14% | 5% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 5 | 14% | 10% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 11% | 7% |
Convictions on the Top Articles
Every case charging Article 112a, Article 134, or Article 92 ended in a conviction on that article: 12 of 12, 12 of 12, and 11 of 11 cases. The median confinement for those convictions was 4 months for the drug and orders charges and 2 years for the general article.
Cases charging Article 120 ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 11 cases (82%), with a median confinement of 1.1 years. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 12 (100%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 12 | 12 (100%) | 2 years |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 11 | 9 (82%) | 1.1 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 11 | 11 (100%) | 4 months |
Longer Confinement Than the Year
Of 35 convictions, 29 included confinement. The median confinement was 9 months, longer than the 7 months for the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 2.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in a case.
Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 12 convictions (34%), compared with 21% for the year. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up only 3 convictions (9%), compared with 26%. Sentences under 6 months made up 37%, and 6 convictions (17%) had no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 17% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 37% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 9% | 26% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 12 | 34% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 5% |
More General Than Special Courts-Martial
A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year. General courts-martial made up 22 of the 41 cases (54%), compared with 48% for the year.
The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2.5 years, and 58% were contested. The 19 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 4 months, and 29% were contested.
Discharges for Enlisted Members
Of 33 convicted enlisted members, 24 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (73%). That was higher than the 64% for the year. Of those 24 discharges, 8 were dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
What Changed Since June 2020
June 2020 had 36 cases, and June 2021 had 41. The contested share went from 31% to 44%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 1 of 4 to 3 of 16. The median confinement went from 6 months to 9 months. Convictions with confinement went from 94% to 83%. Punitive discharges were 73% in both months, and general courts-martial went from 42% to 54%.
A few cases can change percentages in groups this small, so these comparisons show direction, not precise change.
| June 2020 | June 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 36 | 41 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 31% | 44% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 4 | 3 of 16 |
| Convictions with confinement | 94% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 9 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 73% | 73% |
| General courts-martial | 42% | 54% |
The Accused and Their Installations
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 78% of the accused, and NCOs made up 22%. There were no officers. The group was more junior than the year, when 69% were junior enlisted. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 9 cases, and Camp Pendleton, California, tried 6. San Diego, California, Bremerton, Washington, and Norfolk, Virginia, tried 5 each. Together these five account for 73% of the month.
The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct 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 June 2021 (41 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, May 2021: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- July 2021 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 30 Cases (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.