Assault Charges at Pensacola, Florida, 2013–2018: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › Pensacola, Florida › Article 128, 2013–2018

Based on 38 cases · 2013–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Assault in Most of Pensacola's Courts-Martial

Article 128 (assault) was charged in 38 of the 74 courts-martial at Pensacola during this period, or 51%. The number was about the same each year from January 2013 to October 2018: 7 in 2013, 7 in 2014, 6 in 2015, 8 in 2016, 5 in 2017, and 5 in 2018.

A case counts here whenever assault is one of its charges. Article 120 (sexual assault) was also charged in 17 of the 38. Many of these cases were also sexual assault cases.

More Contested Cases, Fewer Full Acquittals

Of 37 records with a plea, 19 accused contested at least one charge and 18 pleaded guilty. That 51% contested share compares with 43% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea.

Most contested cases did not end in a full acquittal. Of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict, 6 ended in a full acquittal (33%). That is lower than the 48% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Another 3 ended in a partial acquittal: an acquittal on at least one charge and a conviction on another.

Officers Among the Accused

Pensacola's assault cases included 4 officers or warrant officers, 16 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 18 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4). That mix is more senior than in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, where 55% of the accused were junior enlisted.

All 4 officers were convicted, and 3 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A member who is not dismissed can still face a later administrative separation outside the court-martial process.

Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members

Of 27 enlisted members convicted, 17 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (63%). That is the same as the 63% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. 5 of the 17 were dishonorable discharges.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation. These court records do not include administrative separations.

A Shorter Median Confinement

Of the 31 convictions, 26 included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, lower than the 8 months across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in 2013–2018. A quarter of the sentences were 1.5 years or longer.

Sentences under 6 months were the largest group: 14 convictions (45%), compared with 34% elsewhere. 5 convictions (16%) carried no confinement, compared with 10%. 8 of 31 convictions (26%) carried more than one year, compared with 33%. Sentences of more than 1 year but under 5 years were 19%, the same as the service rate. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

General and Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial tried 21 of the 38 cases (55%), compared with 60% across the Navy and Marine Corps. In those cases, the median confinement was 1.2 years and 67% were contested. The 17 special courts-martial had a median of 3 months, and 31% were contested.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement, a dishonorable discharge, or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Assault was the only charge in 10 of the 38 cases. Besides sexual assault, the other charges were Article 92 (orders violation) in 6 cases, Article 107 (false official statement) in 4, and Article 114 (dueling) and Article 80 (attempt) in 2 each.

When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, the assault charge can describe part of the same incident. The sentence covers the whole case.

The Law at the Time

All of these trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to the cases here.

What the Records Cannot Show

Trial records do not show evidence, plea terms, or offense dates. They do not include assaults handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so the counts here use only the records that list them.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

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.