What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in May 2017
The records show 50 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2017. Of 24 records listing a plea, 20 were guilty pleas and only 4 were contested (17%), compared with 26% for all of 2017.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 50 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2017. Of 24 records listing a plea, 20 were guilty pleas and only 4 were contested (17%), compared with 26% for all of 2017. Punitive discharges were less common than across the year: 26 of 45 convicted enlisted members (58%), compared with 68%.
Most Recorded Pleas Were Guilty Pleas
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. In May 2017, only 24 of the 50 records include it. Of those, 20 accused pleaded guilty and 4 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea.
The contested share was 17%, lower than the 26% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2017. Because so many records do not list a plea, this share describes only the cases where the plea is known.
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than the Year
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or dishonorable discharge imposed as part of the sentence. Of 45 convicted enlisted members, 26 received one: 15 bad-conduct discharges and 11 dishonorable discharges. The share for the year was 68%.
The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed for 49 of the 50 cases, and a case with three articles appears in three rows. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 20 cases (41%), compared with 37% for the year. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) was next, in 14 cases (29%), compared with 31%.
Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 7 cases (14%), compared with 9%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) also appeared in 7 cases, but its 14% share was lower than the 19% for the year. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 18% of cases and Article 134 (general article) in 12%. Article 80 (attempts) and Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 10% each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 20 | 41% | 37% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 14 | 29% | 31% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 18% | 16% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 7 | 14% | 9% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 14% | 19% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 12% | 13% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 5 | 10% | 10% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 5 | 10% | 11% |
Convictions by Charge
All 14 drug cases ended in a conviction on Article 112a (100%). Those convictions had a median confinement of 4 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 18 of 20 cases (90%), with a median confinement of 6 months.
Article 92 had the lowest conviction rate of the top charges: 7 of 9 cases ended in a conviction on that article. Those convictions had a median confinement of 1.2 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 | 18 (90%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 14 | 14 (100%) | 4 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 7 (7 of 9) | 1.2 years |
Confinement and Sentence Length
Of the 46 convictions, 91% included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, shorter than the median of 8 months for the year. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 2 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 15 of 46 convictions (33%), about the same as the 31% for the year. Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 26%, compared with 20%. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 7%, compared with 10%. Sentences under 6 months made up 39%, and only 4 convictions (9%) had no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 9% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 18 | 39% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 20% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 12 | 26% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 7% | 10% |
General and Special Courts-Martial Compared
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose only a bad-conduct discharge. The month had 21 general courts-martial (42%) and 29 special courts-martial.
The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2 years. The special courts-martial had a median confinement of 4 months.
Compared With May 2016
May 2016 had 36 cases, and May 2017 had 50. The contested share went from 24% to 17%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 6 of 8 to 1 of 4.
The median confinement was 6 months in both months. Convictions with confinement went from 86% to 91%, and punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 50% to 58%. General courts-martial went from 44% to 42%. With groups this small, the comparisons show direction rather than size.
| May 2016 | May 2017 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 36 | 50 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 24% | 17% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 6 of 8 | 1 of 4 |
| Convictions with confinement | 86% | 91% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 50% | 58% |
| General courts-martial | 44% | 42% |
Who Was Tried and Where
Among the accused with rank recorded, 28 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 17 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. The group was more senior than the year, when 66% were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 8 cases. Camp Pendleton, California, and San Diego, California, tried 7 each. Norfolk, Virginia, tried 6, and Bremerton, Washington, tried 3. Together these five account for 62% of the month.
Earlier Rules and Record Limits
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law's fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply to these cases. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and do not include the evidence, plea terms, or nonjudicial punishment.
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 May 2017 (50 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, April 2017: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- June 2017 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases (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.