A Year of Courts-Martial at Pensacola, Florida: 2019
Pensacola, Florida held 11 courts-martial in 2019. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 50% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 14% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, and 64% of cases were contested, compared with 28%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Installation › Pensacola, Florida › 2019
Short answer: Pensacola, Florida held 11 courts-martial in 2019. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 50% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 14% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, and 64% of cases were contested, compared with 28%. Of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal.
Sexual Assault and Assault Charges
Charges are listed for 10 of the 11 cases. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 6 of them (60%), compared with 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 5.
Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) and Article 80 (attempts) each appeared in 2 cases (20%). Article 115, which covered malingering before 2019 and communicating threats since, also appeared in 2 cases, compared with 3% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A case with several articles counts under each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 6 | 60% | 34% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 5 | 50% | 14% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 20% | 8% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 2 | 20% | 10% |
| Art. 115 Malingering before 2019, communicating threats since | 2 | 20% | 3% |
| Art. 134 General article | 1 | 10% | 12% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 1 | 10% | 17% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 1 | 10% | 1% |
Contested Cases and Full Acquittals
Of the cases with a plea recorded, 7 had a not-guilty or mixed plea and 4 had a guilty plea. The contested share of 64% was higher than the 28% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge.
Mostly General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 8 of the 11 cases (73%). Special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and NCOs each made up 45% of the accused, and officers 9%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members were 57% of the accused.
Sentences Compared With Okinawa and Bremerton
Okinawa, Japan tried 25 cases in 2019 and Bremerton, Washington tried 47. The median confinement at Pensacola was 1.2 years, compared with 1.8 years at Okinawa and 3 months at Bremerton. Among convicted enlisted members at Pensacola, 3 of 6 received a punitive discharge. The rates were 79% at Okinawa and 38% at Bremerton.
Bremerton's contested share was 11%, and 4 of its 5 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Sentences here are as adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensacola, Florida | 11 | 64% | 5 of 7 | 1.2 years | 3 of 6 |
| Okinawa, Japan | 25 | 1 of 2 | 0 of 1 | 1.8 years | 79% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 47 | 11% | 4 of 5 | 3 months | 38% |
Rules in 2019
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Since then, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months of confinement with no punitive discharge. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.
What the Records Leave Out
These records show what reached a courtroom. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and plea counts here use only records that list it.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Pensacola, Florida with a trial date in 2019 (11 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
- Pensacola, Florida: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Pensacola, Florida in 2018: 11 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Pensacola, Florida: 2022 (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Pensacola, Florida, 2019–2023? 42 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)
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.