Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, November 2020: The Month in Review
The records show 36 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in November 2020. Of the cases with a recorded plea, 47% were contested, compared with 30% for all of 2020. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 39% of cases, compared with 30% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › November 2020
Short answer: The records show 36 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in November 2020. Of the cases with a recorded plea, 47% were contested, compared with 30% for all of 2020. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 39% of cases, compared with 30% for the year.
Many Contested Cases
Only 17 of the 36 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those 17, 8 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 9 were guilty pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 47% was higher than the 30% for 2020.
The comparison table shows that 4 of the 8 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Drug Charges Were the Most Common
Charges are listed for 33 of the 36 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) appeared in 13 cases (39%), compared with 30% for the year. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 12 cases (36%), the same as its share for the year.
Several less common articles appeared more often than across the year. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) appeared in 12% of cases, compared with 4%. Article 86 (AWOL) appeared in 12%, compared with 7%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) appeared in 12%, compared with 7%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was less common, 12% compared with 16%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 39% | 30% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 36% | 36% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 15% | 13% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 4 | 12% | 7% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 12% | 16% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 4 | 12% | 4% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 12% | 7% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 12% | 11% |
Conviction on the Charged Article
Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article in 12 of 13 cases (92%), with a median confinement of 7 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 12 cases (75%), with a median of 5 months. A case can include both articles and end with a conviction on one and an acquittal on the other.
The median for each article is based on the full sentence in the cases with a conviction on that article. It includes any other charges in those cases, so it is not a sentence for a single offense.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 12 (92%) | 7 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 9 (75%) | 5 months |
Sentences Matched the Annual Median
Of the 30 convictions, 83% included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months median for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2020. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial and counted before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Sentences longer than one year came in 6 of 30 convictions (20%), less often than the 26% for the year. No sentence was 5 years or more. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 30%, compared with 23% for the year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 17% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 33% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 30% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 20% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 6% |
Court Levels Compared
General courts-martial made up 42% of the month (15 of 36), and special courts-martial made up the other 21. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial cannot impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge.
The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.3 years. The special courts-martial had a median confinement of 5 months.
Most Discharges Were Bad-Conduct Discharges
Of 28 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge. Of those 19, 18 were bad-conduct discharges and 1 was a dishonorable discharge. The punitive discharge share of 68% compares with 62% for 2020. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer this month was not dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Rank of the Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 59% of the accused. NCOs made up 38%, and officers made up 3%. Across 2020, junior enlisted members made up 64%.
The group this month was more senior than the year as a whole, with NCOs making up a larger share of the accused.
November 2019 Compared With November 2020
The number of cases went from 42 to 36. The median confinement went from 3 months to 6 months, and punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 46% to 68%. General courts-martial went from 29% to 42%, and the contested share went from 38% to 47%. Full acquittals went from 3 of 6 to 4 of 8.
These groups are small, and a few cases can change any measure, so the comparison shows direction rather than precise change.
| November 2019 | November 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 42 | 36 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 38% | 47% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 3 of 6 | 4 of 8 |
| Convictions with confinement | 81% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 3 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 46% | 68% |
| General courts-martial | 29% | 42% |
Bases and What the Records Do Not Show
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 8 cases, and Camp Pendleton, California, tried 5. Jacksonville, Florida, and Bremerton, Washington, tried 3 each, and Norfolk, Virginia, tried 2. Together these five account for 58% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
The records include trial dates but not offense dates. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations, and they do not describe the evidence or the 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 2020 (36 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)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in October 2020 (previous / next)
- December 2020 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 29 Cases (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2020 (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.