Washington, D.C., 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 21 Cases
From 2024 to 2026, there were 21 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial at Washington, D.C. Of the convicted enlisted members, 21% got a punitive discharge; in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, 52% did.
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Trends › By Installation › Washington, D.C. › 2024–2026
Short answer: From 2024 to 2026, there were 21 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial at Washington, D.C. Of the convicted enlisted members, 21% got a punitive discharge; in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, 52% did. The median adjudged confinement here was 3 months, shorter than the service-wide median of 6 months.
3 of 14 Convicted Enlisted Members Received a Punitive Discharge
The largest difference in the Washington, D.C. records is the punitive discharge rate. 3 of 14 convicted enlisted members received one: 2 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. The Navy and Marine Corps share was 52%.
Officers are counted on their own. Of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 received a dismissal, which is the officer form of a punitive discharge. Members whose sentence had no punitive discharge can still be administratively separated, and these records do not cover that.
How the Figures Changed From 2019–2023
There were 41 cases here in 2019–2023, about 8 a year, and the later rate is also about 8 a year in full years. For convicted enlisted members, the punitive discharge share was 59% in 2019–2023 and 21% in 2024–2026. Median confinement was 8 months and then 3 months.
The contested share was 38% and then 33%. Full acquittals in contested cases with a verdict were 7 of 15 and then 2 of 7. The share of cases at a general court-martial was 66% and then 52%.
A few cases can change percentages in groups this small, so treat these changes as direction, not precision.
| 2019–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 41 | 21 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 38% | 33% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 15 | 2 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 74% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 59% | 21% |
| General courts-martial | 66% | 52% |
Confinement After a Conviction
Confinement was part of 74% of the 19 convictions. The median was 3 months. For all Navy and Marine Corps cases, it was 6 months. A quarter of the sentences here were 9 months or longer.
The figures are adjudged sentences: what the court announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence covers all the charges in its case.
General and Special Courts-Martial
Of the 21 cases, 11 were general courts-martial and 10 were special courts-martial. The 52% general share compares with 38% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Any lawful sentence is available at a general court-martial. At a special court-martial, confinement is capped at one year and a dishonorable discharge is not available.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 5 months and 45% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 45 days and 20% were contested.
Which Articles Were Charged?
Charges are listed in all 21 records, and 1 case can fall under several articles. Article 134 (the general article) was in 24% of cases, and Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was also in 24%. For Article 92, the share across the Navy and Marine Corps was 19%.
Article 93a covers prohibited activities with a recruit or trainee. It was in 2 cases here (10%), and in 0% of cases service-wide. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) was in 10% of cases here, and in 5% service-wide.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 24% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 24% | 19% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 14% | 15% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 14% | 12% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 10% | 5% |
| Art. 93a Prohibited activities with recruit or trainee | 2 | 10% | 0% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 1 | 5% | 7% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 5% | 5% |
Pleas and Rank
In a contested case, the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. There were 14 guilty pleas and 7 contested cases. The 33% contested share compares with 36% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
By rank, there were 5 junior enlisted members, 11 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group is more senior than the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Case Counts and Comparison Installations
Cases run from February 2024 to February 2026: 11 in 2024, 6 in 2025, and 4 in 2026, a partial year. They are 2% of the 1,013 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in the period.
Yokosuka, Japan and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina had a similar number of cases. At Yokosuka, 33% of cases were contested, the same as here. Its median confinement was 5 months, and 69% of convicted enlisted members got a punitive discharge. At Cherry Point, 52% of cases were contested, the median was 4 months, and the punitive discharge share was 50%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, D.C. | 21 | 33% | 2 of 7 | 3 months | 21% |
| Yokosuka, Japan | 21 | 33% | 3 of 7 | 5 months | 69% |
| MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina | 23 | 52% | 3 of 11 | 4 months | 50% |
Rules That Changed in the Same Period
Special trial counsel, not commanders, have decided since December 28, 2023 whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. If every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both rules depend on the offense date. The records give only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and the new rules. The lower sentences came in the same period as these changes. The records cannot show whether the changes caused them.
What the Records Do Not Show
Court-martial records list the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or misconduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Washington, D.C. with a trial date in 2024–2026 (21 cases), compared with all 1,013 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
- Washington, D.C.: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Washington, D.C., 2013–2018? 76 Courts-Martial (another period)
- What Was Tried at Washington, D.C., 2019–2023? 41 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Yokosuka, Japan Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 21 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 23 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Washington, D.C., 2024–2026
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.