What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in May 2019
The records show 41 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2019. Only 16% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% for all of 2019. Punitive discharges were also less common: 49% of convicted enlisted members received one, compared with 60% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 41 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in May 2019. Only 16% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% for all of 2019. Punitive discharges were also less common: 49% of convicted enlisted members received one, compared with 60% for the year.
Most Accused Pleaded Guilty
Of the 41 records, 25 list a plea. Of those, 21 accused pleaded guilty and 4 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 16% was lower than the 28% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2019.
Navy and Marine Corps records from before December 2020 often omit the plea. The contested share here is based only on the 25 records that include a plea, not on all 41 cases.
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than the Year
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or dishonorable discharge. In May 2019, 18 of 37 convicted enlisted members received one (49%), lower than the 60% for the year. Of those 18, 3 were dishonorable discharges.
The records show 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, and that officer was dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later, and these records do not include administrative separations.
Obstruction and Conspiracy Charges Were More Common
Charges are listed for 37 of the 41 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 11 cases (30%), slightly lower than its 34% for the year. Article 112a (drug offenses) was next, in 9 cases (24%), compared with 30% for 2019.
Some less common articles appeared more often than across the year. Article 131b (obstructing justice) and Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 5 cases each (14%), compared with 7% each for the year. Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 16% of cases, compared with 10%. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 16%, compared with 12%. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared less often, in 11% compared with 17%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 30% | 34% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 24% | 30% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 6 | 16% | 10% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 16% | 12% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 5 | 14% | 11% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 5 | 14% | 7% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 5 | 14% | 7% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 11% | 17% |
Convictions on the Top Charges
All 9 cases charging Article 112a ended in a conviction on that article. The median confinement for those convictions was 6 months. Of the 11 cases charging Article 128, 9 ended in a conviction on that article (82%), with a median confinement of 8 months.
A single case can include an acquittal on one article and a conviction on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 9 (82%) | 8 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 6 months |
Confinement About the Same as the Year
Of 38 convictions, 79% included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2019. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.2 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 9 of 38 convictions (24%), the same as the 24% for the year. 8 convictions had no confinement (21%, compared with 18%). 13 were under 6 months (34%). 1 was 5 years or more (3%, compared with 5%).
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 8 | 21% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 34% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 21% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 21% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 5% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The month had 17 general courts-martial (41%), about the same as the 43% for 2019.
At the general courts-martial, 87% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.3 years. At the 24 special courts-martial, 74% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 months.
A More Senior Group of Accused
Among the accused with rank recorded, 21 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 57% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Compared With May 2018
May 2018 had 54 cases, and May 2019 had 41. The contested share went from 33% to 16%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 4 of 7 to 2 of 4. The median confinement went from 8 months to 6 months, and punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 64% to 49%. Convictions with confinement were about the same, 80% and 79%.
In groups this small, a few cases can change any of these figures, so the comparison shows direction more than precise change.
| May 2018 | May 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 54 | 41 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 33% | 16% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 4 of 7 | 2 of 4 |
| Convictions with confinement | 80% | 79% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 64% | 49% |
| General courts-martial | 43% | 41% |
Installations and Record Limits
Bremerton, Washington, and Camp Pendleton, California, tried 7 cases each. Norfolk, Virginia, and San Diego, California, tried 6 each, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 4. Together these 5 locations account for 73% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations, and they do not describe the evidence or the terms of any plea agreement.
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 2019 (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, April 2019: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in June 2019 (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review (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.