What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in September 2020
The records show 37 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in September 2020, and 35 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Conspiracy under Article 81 appeared in 14% of cases, compared with 7% for all of 2020. The contested share was 37%, compared with 30% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › September 2020
Short answer: The records show 37 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in September 2020, and 35 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Conspiracy under Article 81 appeared in 14% of cases, compared with 7% for all of 2020. The contested share was 37%, compared with 30% for the year.
Almost Every Case Ended in a Conviction
Of the 37 cases, 35 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict, only 1 ended in a full acquittal. In September 2019, 4 of 5 did.
All 12 cases charging Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 10 months. Article 128 (assault) cases ended in a conviction on that article in 13 of 14 cases (93%), with a median of 1 year. One 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 | 14 | 13 (93%) | 1 year |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 12 (100%) | 10 months |
Conspiracy and Property Charges Were More Common
Charges are listed for 36 of the 37 cases, and a case with several articles is counted under each one. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 5 cases (14%), compared with 7% for the year. Article 109 (property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction) appeared in 4 cases (11%), compared with 2%.
Article 128 was the most common charge, in 14 cases (39%), about the same as the 36% for the year. Article 112a appeared in 12 cases (33%), compared with 30%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 6 cases (17%), compared with 16%. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) was less common: 4 cases (11%), compared with 18%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 14 | 39% | 36% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 33% | 30% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 5 | 14% | 7% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 11% | 18% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 11% | 12% |
| Art. 109 Property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction | 4 | 11% | 2% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 8% | 8% |
Pleas in the Records
A plea appears in 19 of the 37 records. Of those, 12 accused pleaded guilty and 7 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 37% compares with 30% across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2020.
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. These counts are based only on the 19 records that include it.
Most Sentences Were Under 1 Year
Of the 35 convictions, 83% included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with a median of 6 months for the year. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.2 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year came in 8 of 35 convictions (23%), about the same as the 26% for 2020. All 8 were more than 1 year and under 5 years. No sentence was 5 years or more, compared with 6% of convictions for the year. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 17% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 34% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 26% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 23% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 6% |
General Versus Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 12 of the 37 cases (32%) and had a median confinement of 1.5 years. The 25 special courts-martial had a median of 3 months.
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. Since 2019, a special court-martial tried by a military judge alone is limited to six months with no punitive discharge.
How Many Received a Punitive Discharge?
A bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge was part of 56% of enlisted convictions, lower than the 62% for the year. There were 13 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges.
The records show 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Changes Since September 2019
The number of cases went from 30 to 37. The median confinement went from 6 months to 7 months. The contested share was about the same, 36% and 37%.
Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 58% to 56%, and the general court-martial share went from 37% to 32%. Groups this small can change with only a few cases, so the comparison shows direction, not precise change.
| September 2019 | September 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 30 | 37 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 36% | 37% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 4 of 5 | 1 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 81% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 58% | 56% |
| General courts-martial | 37% | 32% |
Rank and Installations
Among the accused with rank recorded, 22 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 11 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 were officers or warrant officers. That mix was similar to the year as a whole, when 64% of the accused were junior enlisted.
San Diego, California, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, tried 4 cases each. MCAS Miramar, California, and Okinawa, Japan, tried 3 each. These 5 locations account for 49% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at a base.
Beyond the Court-Martial Records
Cases closed through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not part of these records. The records also do not include the evidence or the terms of any plea agreement, so they do not explain the outcome of any case.
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 September 2020 (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, August 2020: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in October 2020 (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.