What Was Tried at Norfolk, Virginia, 2019–2023? 205 Courts-Martial
Norfolk, Virginia tried 205 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. Of contested cases that reached a verdict, 41% ended in a full acquittal (29 of 70), compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 38% of cases, compared with 31% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Norfolk, Virginia › 2019–2023
Short answer: Norfolk, Virginia tried 205 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. Of contested cases that reached a verdict, 41% ended in a full acquittal (29 of 70), compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 38% of cases, compared with 31% service-wide.
Contested Cases and Full Acquittals
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 202 cases with a plea recorded, 132 were guilty pleas and 70 were contested. The contested share was 35%, higher than the 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Full acquittals came in 29 of the 70 contested cases that reached a verdict, a rate of 41%. The Navy and Marine Corps rate was 29%. In another 14 cases, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. That is a partial acquittal.
Results for Article 120 and Article 128
Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge, in 76 cases. Of those, 60 (79%) ended in a conviction for assault, with a median confinement of 6 months.
Rape and sexual assault under Article 120 was charged in 19% of cases, compared with 14% service-wide. It had the lowest conviction rate among the top charges: 20 of 38 (53%). The median confinement for those convictions was 1.3 years. Article 134, the general article, had the highest conviction rate: 25 of 26 (96%).
Guilty pleas were also different by charge. Cases charging Article 112a, the drug article, ended in a guilty plea 78% of the time (39 of 50). Article 120 cases ended in a guilty plea 27% of the time (10 of 37). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or not guilty.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 76 | 60 (79%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 51 | 46 (90%) | 4 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 38 | 20 (53%) | 1.3 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 26 | 25 (96%) | 1.2 years |
Desertion Was Charged More Often
The charge lists cover 201 of 205 cases. Desertion under Article 85 was in 9% of them, compared with 2% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 and Article 134 were less common than service-wide: Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, was at 11% compared with 18%, and Article 134 at 13% compared with 18%. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 25% of cases, the same as the service rate.
A case with several articles counts under each one, so the shares overlap.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 76 | 38% | 31% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 51 | 25% | 25% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 38 | 19% | 14% |
| Art. 134 General article | 26 | 13% | 18% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 23 | 11% | 18% |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 18 | 9% | 2% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 18 | 9% | 7% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 17 | 8% | 9% |
How Does 2019–2023 Compare With 2013–2018?
Norfolk had 308 cases in 2013–2018, about 51 a year. In 2019–2023, it had about 41 a year, counting full years only. The contested share went from 34% to 35%, and median confinement stayed at 6 months.
Other measures changed more. Full acquittals in contested cases with a verdict went from 45 of 104 to 29 of 70. Convictions with confinement fell from 87% to 78%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members rose from 57% to 62%. The general court-martial share went from 50% to 44%. Groups of this size can change with a few cases, so these figures show direction, not precise changes.
| 2013–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 308 | 205 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 34% | 35% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 45 of 104 | 29 of 70 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 57% | 62% |
| General courts-martial | 50% | 44% |
Length of Sentences
Of 175 convictions, 137 included confinement. The median was 6 months, the same as the 6 months for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of sentences were 1 year or longer.
Long sentences were less common than service-wide. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 29 of 175 convictions (17%), compared with 24%. These are adjudged sentences, imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in a case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 38 | 22% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 68 | 39% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 40 | 23% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 20 | 11% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 9 | 5% | 5% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
There were 91 general and 114 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 44%, was the same as across the Navy and Marine Corps. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
The 2 levels were very different. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 1 year, and 49% of their cases were contested. Special courts-martial had a median of 3 months, and 23% of their cases were contested.
Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members and Officers
Of 160 convicted enlisted members, 99 received a punitive discharge: 78 bad-conduct and 21 dishonorable. That is about the same as the 63% service-wide. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. The records show 12 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank of the Accused
Junior enlisted members, E-1 to E-4, made up 50% of the accused, compared with 64% across the Navy and Marine Corps. NCOs were 43%, and officers were 7%. The group was more senior than the service as a whole.
San Diego and Bremerton
San Diego, California tried 173 cases, and Bremerton, Washington tried 153, in the same years. Their contested shares, 30% and 29%, were lower than Norfolk's 35%. Their full-acquittal counts were 18 of 52 and 14 of 43. Median confinement was 6 months in San Diego and 4 months in Bremerton. Punitive discharges for enlisted members were 55% and 42%, both lower than Norfolk's 62%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, Virginia | 205 | 35% | 29 of 70 | 6 months | 62% |
| San Diego, California | 173 | 30% | 18 of 52 | 6 months | 55% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 153 | 29% | 14 of 43 | 4 months | 42% |
Cases by Year and What the Records Do Not Show
The cases were tried from January 2019 through December 2023: 51 in 2019, 29 in 2020, 46 in 2021, 50 in 2022, and 29 in 2023. They are 10% of the 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so those counts use only the records that list them. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show evidence, plea terms, or cases handled through nonjudicial punishment.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Norfolk, Virginia with a trial date in 2019–2023 (205 cases), compared with all 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Norfolk, Virginia, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 308 Cases (another period)
- What Was Tried at Norfolk, Virginia, 2024–2026? 77 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Inside 173 Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases (same years, similar size)
- Did Assault Cases at Norfolk, Virginia Change After 2019?
- Article 112a at Norfolk, Virginia Before and After 2019
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Norfolk, Virginia, 2019–2023
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.