Pensacola, Florida, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 74 Cases
Pensacola, Florida tried 74 courts-martial from 2013 to 2018 in these records. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 55% of cases, compared with 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 38% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Pensacola, Florida › 2013–2018
Short answer: Pensacola, Florida tried 74 courts-martial from 2013 to 2018 in these records. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 55% of cases, compared with 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 38% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% service-wide.
Assault and Sexual Assault Were the Most Common Charges
Charge lists exist for 69 of the 74 cases. Each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 38 of them (55%), compared with 37% service-wide. Article 120 (sexual assault) was the next most common, in 32% of cases, compared with 22%.
Drug cases were less common than elsewhere. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 12% of cases, compared with 23% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (17% compared with 15%), Article 134 (14% compared with 13%), and Article 121 (13% compared with 13%) were about the same as the service rates. Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 12%, compared with 8%. Article 107 false official statements appeared in 13%, compared with 12%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 38 | 55% | 37% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 22 | 32% | 22% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 12 | 17% | 15% |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 14% | 13% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 9 | 13% | 12% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 9 | 13% | 13% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 8 | 12% | 23% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 8 | 12% | 8% |
More Contested Cases Than in the Service
72 of the 74 records list a plea: 45 guilty pleas and 27 contested cases. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. That 38% contested share compares with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Pleas differed by charge. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 80% of the time (8 of 10). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 9% of the time (2 of 22). The records do not show why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.
Full Acquittal Rate the Same as the Service
Of the 26 contested cases that reached a verdict, 12 ended in a full acquittal. That 46% rate is the same as the 46% service rate. Another 3 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.
Convictions and Sentences by Charge
Article 120 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 14 of 22 (64%), the lowest rate among the top charges. Those convictions had the longest median confinement, 3.5 years. Article 134 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 10, with a median of 3 years.
Article 128 had 32 convictions in 38 cases (84%), with a median of 5 months. Article 92 had 11 in 12 (92%), with a median of 4 months. These rows overlap, since one case can include several articles.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 38 | 32 (84%) | 5 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 22 | 14 (64%) | 3.5 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 12 | 11 (92%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 9 (90%) | 3 years |
How Much Confinement
Of 61 convictions, 51 carried confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the service median. A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover all charges in the case.
17 of 61 convictions (28%) carried more than one year of confinement, about the same as the 26% service-wide. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were less common here: 15%, compared with 23%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 16% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 25 | 41% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 15% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 12 | 20% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 8% | 9% |
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
Of 55 convicted enlisted members, 31 received a punitive discharge: 20 bad-conduct and 11 dishonorable. That 56% rate is lower than the 64% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Of 6 convicted officers or warrant officers, 5 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
General Courts-Martial Were Contested More Often
There were 36 general and 38 special courts-martial. The 49% general share compares with 44% elsewhere in the service. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. In general courts-martial, 56% of cases were contested and the median confinement was 2.7 years. A special court-martial is capped at one year. In special courts-martial, 19% were contested and the median was 3 months.
By rank, the accused were 32 junior enlisted members, 36 NCOs, and 6 officers. That group is more senior than the service as a whole.
Compared With Washington, D.C. and Jacksonville
Washington, D.C. (76 cases) and Jacksonville, Florida (78) tried a similar number of cases. All 3 had a median confinement of 6 months. Washington, D.C. had 39% contested and 13 full acquittals in 29 contested cases that reached a verdict, similar to Pensacola. Jacksonville had a lower contested share, 21%, and a punitive discharge rate of 66%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensacola, Florida | 74 | 38% | 12 of 26 | 6 months | 56% |
| Washington, D.C. | 76 | 39% | 13 of 29 | 6 months | 59% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 78 | 21% | 4 of 16 | 6 months | 66% |
What the Records Cannot Show
By year, there were 9 cases in 2013, 12 in 2014, 16 in 2015, 14 in 2016, 12 in 2017, and 11 in 2018. They were 4% of the 2,059 Navy and Marine Corps cases. Every trial here took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show evidence, plea terms, or cases handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Pensacola, Florida with a trial date in 2013–2018 (74 cases), compared with all 2,059 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
- Pensacola, Florida: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Pensacola, Florida, 2019–2023? 42 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Pensacola, Florida, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 15 Cases (another period)
- What Was Tried at Washington, D.C., 2013–2018? 76 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Jacksonville, Florida, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 78 Cases (same years, similar size)
- Sexual Assault Cases at Pensacola, Florida: 2013–2018 vs. 2019–2023
- Article 128 at Pensacola, Florida Before and After 2019
- 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.