Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, March 2018: The Month in Review
The records show 52 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in March 2018. The accused were more senior than across the year: officers made up 10% of the accused and junior enlisted members 49%, compared with 61% junior enlisted for all of 2018.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 52 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in March 2018. The accused were more senior than across the year: officers made up 10% of the accused and junior enlisted members 49%, compared with 61% junior enlisted for all of 2018. Contested cases were also more common: 41% of cases with a plea recorded, compared with 28% for the year.
A More Senior Group of Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 49% of the accused. NCOs (E-5 to E-9) made up 41%, and officers made up 10%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018, junior enlisted members made up 61%.
The records show 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
More Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. Here, 27 of the 52 records list one: 16 guilty pleas and 11 not-guilty or mixed pleas.
The contested share was 41%, higher than the 28% for 2018. The contested share was higher at general courts-martial (54%) than at special courts-martial (29%).
Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (36%). That was lower than the 46% for the year.
Assault and Sexual Assault Were Charged More Often
Charges are listed for 50 of the 52 cases, and a case with several articles is counted under each one. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 20 cases (40%), compared with 34% for the year. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 11 cases (22%), compared with 16%.
Drug charges were less common. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) appeared in 9 cases (18%), compared with 26%. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 14% of cases. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) and Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 12% each, and Article 121 (larceny) and Article 80 (attempts) in 10% each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 20 | 40% | 34% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 11 | 22% | 16% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 18% | 26% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 14% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 12% | 10% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 6 | 12% | 11% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 5 | 10% | 11% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 5 | 10% | 12% |
Conviction Rates by Charge
Every Article 112a case ended in a conviction on that article (9 of 9), with a median confinement of 3 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 15 of 20 cases (75%), with a median confinement of 8 months.
Article 120 had the lowest conviction rate among the top charges: 7 of 11 cases (64%) ended in a conviction on that article. Those convictions had a median confinement of 2 years. A 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. 128 Assault | 20 | 15 (75%) | 8 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 11 | 7 (64%) | 2 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 3 months |
Confinement and Its Length
Of the 46 convictions, 80% included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, about the same as the median of 7 months for the year. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.7 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Sentences longer than one year came in 12 of 46 convictions (26%), less often than the 30% for the year. Convictions with no confinement made up 20%, higher than the 15% for the year. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 9%, the same as the year. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 24%, compared with 23%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 9 | 20% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 30% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 24% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 17% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 9% | 9% |
Court Levels Split Evenly
General courts-martial made up 50% of the cases (26 of 52), and special courts-martial made up the other 26. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.
The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.7 years. The special courts-martial had a median confinement of 4 months.
Discharges for Enlisted Members
Of 41 convicted enlisted members, 27 received a punitive discharge: 17 bad-conduct discharges and 10 dishonorable discharges. That 66% was the same as the share for the year. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation.
Compared With March 2017
March 2017 had 50 cases, and March 2018 had 52. The contested share went from 31% to 41%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 2 of 5 to 4 of 11. General courts-martial went from 36% of cases to 50%.
Convictions with confinement went from 87% to 80%. The median confinement went from 9 months to 8 months, and punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 74% to 66%. A few cases can change percentages in monthly groups, so these comparisons show direction, not precise change.
| March 2017 | March 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 50 | 52 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 31% | 41% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 5 | 4 of 11 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 80% |
| Median confinement | 9 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 74% | 66% |
| General courts-martial | 36% | 50% |
Installations, Rules, and Limits
San Diego, California, tried the most cases, 6. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Bremerton, Washington, and Quantico, Virginia, tried 5 each, and Norfolk, Virginia, tried 4. These five account for 48% of the month.
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records do not include the evidence, 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 March 2018 (52 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, February 2018: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- April 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (the whole year)
- 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.