Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, May 2018: The Month in Review
The records show 54 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2018. Long sentences were more common than across the year: 7 of 49 convictions (14%) were 5 years or more, compared with 9% for all of 2018, and 1 sentence was life.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 54 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2018. Long sentences were more common than across the year: 7 of 49 convictions (14%) were 5 years or more, compared with 9% for all of 2018, and 1 sentence was life. The median confinement was 8 months, about the same as the 7 months for the year.
More Long Sentences
Of 49 convictions, 39 included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, about the same as the 7 months for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2018. Long sentences were more common than across the year. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 14% of convictions, and 1 was confinement for life. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 3 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year came in 17 of 49 convictions (35%), more often than the 30% for the year. All of these are adjudged sentences. They were announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in its case.
Short Sentences and No Confinement
10 convictions (20%) had no confinement, compared with 15% for the year. Sentences under 6 months made up 27%, compared with 32%. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 18%, compared with 23%. Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 20%, the same as the year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 20% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 27% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 18% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 20% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 7 | 14% | 9% |
Which Courts Imposed the Long Sentences
Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. General courts-martial made up 43% of the month (23 of 54).
The 23 general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2.8 years. The 31 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 5 months.
Assault, Conspiracy, and Orders Charges
The records list charges for 50 of the 54 cases, with a separate row for each article in a case. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 18 cases (36%), compared with 34% for the year. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 7 cases (14%), compared with 9%. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 9 cases (18%), compared with 13%.
Drug charges were less common. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) appeared in 11 cases (22%), compared with 26%. Article 134 (general article), Article 80 (attempts), and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 14% of cases each. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 12%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 18 | 36% | 34% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 22% | 26% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 18% | 13% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 14% | 15% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 7 | 14% | 12% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 14% | 16% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 7 | 14% | 9% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 6 | 12% | 11% |
Convictions on the Top Articles
Every Article 92 case ended in a conviction on that article (9 of 9), with a median confinement of 8 months. Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 11 cases (91%), with a median of 6 months.
Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 16 of 18 cases (89%). Those convictions had a median confinement of 2 years. A 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. 128 Assault | 18 | 16 (89%) | 2 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 10 (91%) | 6 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 8 months |
Discharges and Dismissals
Punitive discharges went to 29 of 45 convicted enlisted members, compared with a 66% share across 2018. Of those 29, 20 were bad-conduct discharges and 9 were dishonorable discharges. The records show 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed, which is the officer form of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Pleas and the Year Before
Just 21 of the 54 records list a plea, because Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave it out. The 21 recorded pleas were 14 guilty pleas and 7 contested pleas, a contested share of 33%. For the year, the contested share was 28%.
May 2017 had 50 cases. From May 2017 to May 2018, the contested share went from 17% to 33%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 1 of 4 to 4 of 7. The median confinement went from 6 months to 8 months, convictions with confinement from 91% to 80%, and punitive discharges for enlisted members from 58% to 64%. General courts-martial went from 42% to 43%. In groups of this size a handful of cases moves the numbers, so these are directions only.
| May 2017 | May 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 50 | 54 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 17% | 33% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 4 | 4 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 91% | 80% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 58% | 64% |
| General courts-martial | 42% | 43% |
Rank and Location
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 55% of the accused. NCOs made up 38%, and officers made up 8%. The group was more senior than the year, when 61% were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 10 cases, and Camp Pendleton, California, tried 8. Okinawa, Japan, and Norfolk, Virginia, tried 6 each, and Quantico, Virginia, tried 4. These five account for 63% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Before the 2019 Changes
These trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Its fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply. The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show 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 May 2018 (54 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)
- April 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, June 2018: The Month in Review (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.