45 Assault Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan, 2013–2018: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › Article 128, 2013–2018

Based on 45 cases · 2013–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Assault Cases Were Contested

44 of the 45 records list the plea: 24 contested cases and 20 guilty pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 55%, compared with 43% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases.

Full acquittals came in 38% of the 24 contested cases that reached a verdict. That is lower than the 48% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 1 more case ended in a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge but guilty of another.

Assault Cases Were 47% of All Cases

The 45 cases were 47% of the 96 courts-martial at Yokosuka in 2013–2018. They were tried from January 2013 through November 2018: 7 in 2013, 6 in 2014, 5 in 2015, 8 in 2016, 11 in 2017, and 8 in 2018. The highest yearly count was in 2017.

Sexual Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge

Only 10 of the 45 cases charged Article 128 by itself. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 216 of 734 Article 128 cases charged it alone. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged with it in 25 cases. Article 107 (false official statement) was in 9, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 8, Article 80 (attempt) in 8, and Article 134 (the general article) in 5.

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

Median Confinement Was 6 Months

36 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 34 of those sentences included confinement (94%). The median confinement was 6 months, shorter than the 8 months in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in 2013–2018. A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer.

11 of 36 convictions (31%) had confinement longer than one year, about the same as the 33% service-wide. Sentences under 6 months were more common here: 44% compared with 34%. Sentences of 5 years or more were less common: 8% compared with 13%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial

31 of the 45 cases were general courts-martial (69%), compared with 60% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases. At general courts-martial, 92% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1 year. At the 14 special courts-martial, 100% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 5 months.

The 2 court levels have different limits. Any lawful sentence is available at a general court-martial, up to long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. At a special court-martial, confinement is capped at one year, and a dishonorable discharge is not available.

Punitive Discharges

Bad-conduct and dishonorable discharges are punitive discharges. Of 35 convicted enlisted members, 20 got one. 12 were dishonorable and 8 were bad-conduct. For all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases, the share was 63%. The group also has 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. Members whose sentence had no punitive discharge can still be administratively separated later.

Rank of the Accused

NCOs were 53% of the accused. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 42%, and officers were 4%. Service-wide, junior enlisted members were 55%, so this group was more senior.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the plea counts on this page use only the records that list one.

The Law at the Time

Every case on this page was tried under the rules in place before January 1, 2019, when the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect. The act later brought fixed panel sizes, written plea agreements, and a judge-alone special court-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. These cases were tried before any of that applied.

What the Records Do Not Show

Only trial dates appear in the records. Offense dates, the evidence, and the plea terms do not. Assaults handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are outside this data. The records also cannot show why an accused contested a case or how a court weighed the evidence.

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.