Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, November 2018: The Month in Review
The records show 37 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in November 2018. False official statements under Article 107 were charged in 22% of them, compared with 11% for all of 2018. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was also more common, 24% compared with 16%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › November 2018
Short answer: The records show 37 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in November 2018. False official statements under Article 107 were charged in 22% of them, compared with 11% for all of 2018. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was also more common, 24% compared with 16%. The contested share of 25% was about the same as the 28% for the year.
False Statement and Sexual Assault Charges Were More Common
All 37 records list their charges, and a case is counted under each article it charges. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 8 cases (22%), compared with 11% across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2018. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 9 cases (24%), compared with 16%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 16% of cases, compared with 10%.
Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 15 cases (41%), compared with 34% for the year. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) appeared in 27%, about the same as its 26% for the year. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) and Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 7 cases each (19%). Their shares for the year were 13% and 12%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 41% | 34% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 27% | 26% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 24% | 16% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 22% | 11% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 19% | 13% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 7 | 19% | 12% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 16% | 10% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 16% | 15% |
Most Top Charges Ended in Conviction
All 8 cases charging Article 107 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 8 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 14 of 15 cases (93%), with a median of 1.2 years. Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 10 cases (90%), with a median of 6 months.
Article 120 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9 cases, the lowest rate among the top charges here. Those convictions had a median confinement of 1.5 years. One case can include several of these articles, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 14 (93%) | 1.2 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 9 (90%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 1.5 years |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 8 months |
Guilty Pleas in Most Recorded Cases
Only 16 of the 37 records include a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. Of those 16, 12 were guilty pleas and 4 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 25%, compared with 28% for 2018. Of the 4 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
Confinement in Most Convictions
Of 35 convictions, 89% included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, the same as the median for the year. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences: the sentences set at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, covering all charges in a case.
Sentences longer than one year came in 10 of 35 convictions (29%), about the same as the 30% for 2018. Only 1 conviction was 5 years or more (3%, compared with 9%). 4 convictions had no confinement (11%, compared with 15%).
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 11% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 34% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 26% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 26% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 9% |
More Special Than General Courts-Martial
There were 23 special courts-martial and 14 general courts-martial. The general share was 38%, lower than the 45% for the year. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year.
The median confinement was 1.8 years at the general courts-martial and 4 months at the special courts-martial.
Punitive Discharges About the Same as the Year
Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 22 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (65%), about the same as the 66% for 2018. Of those 22, 6 were dishonorable discharges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Who Was Tried and Where
Among the accused with rank recorded, 23 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) and 13 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9). There were 0 officers or warrant officers. That mix was similar to the year, when 61% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 8 cases, and Camp Pendleton, California, tried 7. San Diego, California, tried 4. Norfolk, Virginia, and Bremerton, Washington, tried 3 each. Together these five account for 68% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Compared With November 2017
November 2017 had 46 cases, and November 2018 had 37. General courts-martial went from 59% to 38% of cases. The contested share went from 35% to 25%. The median confinement went from 8 months to 7 months. Punitive discharges were about the same, 64% and 65%.
These are small groups, and a few cases can change each figure, so the comparisons show direction more than size.
| November 2017 | November 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 46 | 37 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 35% | 25% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 5 of 8 | 2 of 4 |
| Convictions with confinement | 92% | 89% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 64% | 65% |
| General courts-martial | 59% | 38% |
Before the 2019 Changes
All of these trials came before January 1, 2019, when the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect. Fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months, and written plea agreements came later and did not apply to these cases.
The records also do not include offense dates, nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, or plea terms.
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 November 2018 (37 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, October 2018: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- December 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 27 Cases (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (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.