A Year of Courts-Martial at Norfolk, Virginia: 2014
In 2014, Norfolk, Virginia tried 50 courts-martial, and 48% were contested, compared with 33% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Sexual assault under Article 120 was charged in 43% of cases, compared with 30% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Norfolk, Virginia › 2014
Short answer: In 2014, Norfolk, Virginia tried 50 courts-martial, and 48% were contested, compared with 33% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Sexual assault under Article 120 was charged in 43% of cases, compared with 30% service-wide. The median confinement after a conviction was 10 months, compared with 5 months elsewhere.
Almost Half of the Cases Were Contested
The accused at Norfolk contested their charges more often than the accused elsewhere that year. Of 50 cases, 26 ended in a guilty plea and 24 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. That 48% contested share compares with 33% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Guilty pleas were different by charge. Cases charging Article 128 (assault) ended in a guilty plea 50% of the time (10 of 20), the most among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 33% of the time (7 of 21). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or not guilty.
Sexual Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Of the 49 cases with charge lists, 21 included Article 120 (rape and sexual assault). That is 43%, compared with 30% service-wide. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 20 cases: 41%, compared with 40%.
Other charges were at or below service rates. Article 112a drug offenses were charged in 16% of cases, the same as the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 121 (larceny) was less common: 8%, compared with 13%. A case charging several articles counts once under each of them.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 21 | 43% | 30% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 20 | 41% | 40% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 8 | 16% | 16% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 5 | 10% | 11% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 10% | 12% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 8% | 13% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 8% | 7% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 8% | 11% |
Verdicts and Convictions by Charge
All 24 contested cases reached a verdict. Full acquittals came in 33% of them, lower than the 42% in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole. Another 2 were partial acquittals, in which the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.
Article 120 had the lowest conviction rate on the charged article among the top charges: 16 of 21 cases (76%). Assault cases ended in a conviction on Article 128 in 17 of 20 (85%). Drug cases ended in a conviction in 7 of 8. 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. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 21 | 16 (76%) | 2 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 20 | 17 (85%) | 1.9 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 8 | 7 (7 of 8) | 4 months |
Long Sentences for Serious Charges
Confinement was part of 83% of the 42 convictions. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 5 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of sentences were 3 years or longer.
The median was different for each charge: 2 years for an Article 120 conviction, 1.9 years for Article 128, and 4 months for Article 112a. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 16 of 42 convictions (38%), compared with 26% service-wide. There was also no confinement in 7 convictions (17%), compared with 10% elsewhere.
These are adjudged sentences, imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in a case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 17% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 31% | 48% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 14% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 11 | 26% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 12% | 10% |
Results by Court Level
General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 30 of 50 cases (60%). Their median confinement was 2.2 years, and 53% of them were contested. The 20 special courts-martial, which are capped at one year of confinement, had a 3-month median and a 40% contested share.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge, meaning a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, followed 20 of 40 enlisted convictions: 11 bad-conduct and 9 dishonorable. That 50% rate was lower than the 59% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Neither of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.
From 2013 to 2014
The number of cases was about the same: 52 in 2013 and 50 in 2014. The contested share rose from 33% to 48%. Full acquittals went from 5 of 17 contested cases with a verdict to 8 of 24. Median confinement went from 5 months to 10 months.
General courts-martial rose from 37% to 60% of cases. Punitive discharges for enlisted members fell from 65% to 50%. These are small groups, and a few cases can change each figure, so the changes show direction, not precision.
| 2013 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 52 | 50 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 33% | 48% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 5 of 17 | 8 of 24 |
| Convictions with confinement | 94% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 10 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 65% | 50% |
| General courts-martial | 37% | 60% |
Rank and Comparable Installations
The 2014 accused were 21 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 25 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 4 officers or warrant officers. That is a more senior mix than the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, where 49% were junior enlisted.
Bremerton, Washington (47 cases) and San Diego, California (56 cases) were similar in size. Both had much lower contested shares, 23% and 20%, and shorter medians, 6 months and 3 months. Bremerton had full acquittals in 5 of 10 contested cases with a verdict, and San Diego in 4 of 11.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, Virginia | 50 | 48% | 8 of 24 | 10 months | 50% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 47 | 23% | 5 of 10 | 6 months | 62% |
| San Diego, California | 56 | 20% | 4 of 11 | 3 months | 49% |
What the Records Do Not Show
These trials were before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records show trial dates, not offense dates, and include only courts-martial. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, the evidence, or plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Norfolk, Virginia with a trial date in 2014 (50 cases).
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
- Norfolk, Virginia: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Norfolk, Virginia in 2013: 52 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- What Norfolk, Virginia Tried in 2015 (previous / next)
- Norfolk, Virginia, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 308 Cases (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- 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.