Norfolk, Virginia in 2022: 50 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Norfolk, Virginia held 50 courts-martial in 2022. The median confinement after a conviction was 3 months, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Norfolk, Virginia › 2022
Short answer: Norfolk, Virginia held 50 courts-martial in 2022. The median confinement after a conviction was 3 months, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. Full acquittals came in 38% of contested cases that reached a verdict (5 of 13), compared with 20% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Most Sentences Were Short
Sentences at Norfolk in 2022 were short. Of 45 convictions, 35 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 6 months service-wide. A quarter of sentences were 7 months or longer.
Only 2 of 45 convictions (4%) included more than one year, compared with 20% across the Navy and Marine Corps. None were 5 years or more. Sentences under 6 months made up 47% of convictions, compared with 38%. There was no confinement in 10 convictions (22%), compared with 17%.
These are adjudged sentences, imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 22% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 21 | 47% | 38% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 12 | 27% | 25% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 4% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 4% |
Desertion Was Charged More Often
Article 85 (desertion) was charged in 8 of 50 cases (16%), compared with 3% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2022. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 5 cases: 10%, compared with 6%. Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge: 32%, compared with 23%.
Drug charges under Article 112a were in 26% of cases, compared with 22%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was in 14%, compared with 9%. Article 92 orders violations were less common than elsewhere: 14%, compared with 18%. Each article counts once per case, so a case may appear in several rows.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 16 | 32% | 23% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 26% | 22% |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 8 | 16% | 3% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 14% | 9% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 14% | 18% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 5 | 10% | 6% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 6% | 3% |
| Art. 129 Burglary; unlawful entry | 3 | 6% | 4% |
Convictions and Sentences by Charge
Every desertion case ended in a conviction on Article 85 (8 of 8), with a median confinement of 2 months. Drug charges ended in a conviction on Article 112a in 12 of 13 (92%), with a 4-month median.
Assault had the lowest conviction rate among the top charges, 13 of 16 (81%), and a 3-month median. A single 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 | 16 | 13 (81%) | 3 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13 | 12 (92%) | 4 months |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 2 months |
Pleas and Verdicts
Of 50 accused, 37 pleaded guilty and 13 contested at least one charge. The 26% contested share was lower than the 33% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A contested case has a not-guilty or mixed plea.
Of the 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal (38%) and 3 in a partial acquittal (23%), meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate is higher than the 20% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Drug cases ended in a guilty plea 77% of the time (10 of 13), the most among the top charges. Assault cases ended in a guilty plea 62% of the time (10 of 16). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or not guilty.
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
There were 15 general and 35 special courts-martial. The 30% general court-martial share compares with 42% service-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
General courts-martial had a median confinement of 8 months, and 33% were contested. Special courts-martial had a 3-month median, and 23% were contested.
Punitive Discharges and Rank
Of 39 convicted enlisted members, 25 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (64%), the same 64% as the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Of those, 3 were dishonorable. None of the 4 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
By rank, the accused were 23 junior enlisted members, 21 NCOs, and 4 officers. That is a more senior group than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Changes From 2021
Cases rose from 46 in 2021 to 50. The contested share went from 29% to 26%. Full acquittals went from 6 of 13 to 5 of 13. Median confinement fell from 5 months to 3 months. The punitive discharge rate was about the same, at 65% and 64%. Small groups change with a few cases, so these figures show direction, not precision.
| 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 46 | 50 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 29% | 26% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 6 of 13 | 5 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 65% | 64% |
| General courts-martial | 35% | 30% |
Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (48 cases) and Camp Pendleton, California (61 cases) tried a similar number of cases. Neither had a full acquittal in contested cases that reached a verdict: 0 of 9 and 0 of 19, compared with 5 of 13 at Norfolk. Their medians, 8 months and 6 months, were longer than Norfolk's. Their punitive discharge rates, 77% and 74%, were higher.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, Virginia | 50 | 26% | 5 of 13 | 3 months | 64% |
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 48 | 21% | 0 of 9 | 8 months | 77% |
| Camp Pendleton, California | 61 | 33% | 0 of 19 | 6 months | 74% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included.
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 2022 (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)
- What Norfolk, Virginia Tried in 2021 (previous / next)
- Norfolk, Virginia in 2023: 29 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Norfolk, Virginia, 2019–2023? 205 Courts-Martial (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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Norfolk, Virginia, 2022
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.