Yokosuka, Japan, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 96 Cases
Yokosuka, Japan held 96 courts-martial from 2013 to 2018 in these records. Sexual assault (Article 120) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 36% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2013–2018
Short answer: Yokosuka, Japan held 96 courts-martial from 2013 to 2018 in these records. Sexual assault (Article 120) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 36% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 29% service-wide.
Assault and Sexual Assault Were Charged More Often
91 of the 96 records list the charges, and each article counts once per case. Assault (Article 128) was the most common charge, in 49% of cases, compared with 37% service-wide. Sexual assault (Article 120) was next, in 34%, compared with 22%.
Attempts (Article 80) appeared in 15% of cases and Article 120b in 12%, compared with 8% each across the service. False official statements (Article 107) appeared in 20%, compared with 12%. The general article (Article 134) appeared in 19%, compared with 13%. Orders violations (Article 92) appeared in 18%, compared with 15%.
Drug and larceny charges were less common. Drug offenses (Article 112a) appeared in 7% of cases, compared with 23%. Larceny (Article 121) appeared in 5%, compared with 13%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 45 | 49% | 37% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 31 | 34% | 22% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 18 | 20% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 17 | 19% | 13% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 16 | 18% | 15% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 14 | 15% | 8% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 11 | 12% | 8% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 7% | 23% |
Pleas
94 records list the plea. 60 show a guilty plea and 34 show a contested case, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 36%, compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Cases charging Article 107 ended in a guilty plea 78% of the time (14 of 18), the highest among the most common charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 23% of the time (7 of 31). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested.
Results in Contested Cases
All 34 contested cases reached a verdict. 14 ended in a full acquittal (41%), lower than the 46% across the service. 1 ended in a partial acquittal (3%), meaning the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
Convictions on the Most Common Charges
17 of 18 Article 107 cases ended in a conviction on that article (94%), and 16 of 17 Article 134 cases did (94%). For Article 128, the count was 36 of 45 (80%). Article 120 had the lowest rate: 21 of 31 (68%).
The median confinement after a conviction was 5 months for Article 107, 6 months for Article 128, 1.6 years for Article 134, and 1.8 years for Article 120. A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can occur in the same case, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 45 | 36 (80%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 31 | 21 (68%) | 1.8 years |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 18 | 17 (94%) | 5 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 17 | 16 (94%) | 1.6 years |
Most Convictions Included Confinement
82 of the 96 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 77 of those sentences included confinement (94%). Only 6% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 12% service-wide. The median confinement was 6 months, about the same as the service. A quarter of the sentences were 2 years or longer.
23 of 82 convictions (28%) had confinement longer than one year, about the same as the 26% service share. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all charges in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 6% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 35 | 43% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 19 | 23% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 14 | 17% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 9 | 11% | 9% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
There were 46 general courts-martial and 50 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 48%, compared with 44% across the service. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. At general courts-martial, 95% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 2 years. Special courts-martial are capped at one year of confinement. At special courts-martial, 93% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 4 months.
Punitive Discharges and Rank
65% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 32 bad-conduct discharges and 20 dishonorable discharges. That is about the same as the 64% service figure. 2 officers or warrant officers were convicted, and both were sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
By rank, the accused were 40 junior enlisted members, 53 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group is more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
Mayport and Pearl Harbor
Mayport, Florida (97 cases) and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (83 cases) held a similar number of cases. All 3 installations had a median confinement of 6 months. Full acquittals in contested cases with a verdict were 15 of 30 at Mayport, 14 of 34 at Yokosuka, and 9 of 26 at Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor had the highest punitive discharge rate of the 3: 75%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | 96 | 36% | 14 of 34 | 6 months | 65% |
| Mayport, Florida | 97 | 32% | 15 of 30 | 6 months | 67% |
| Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | 83 | 31% | 9 of 26 | 6 months | 75% |
Case Counts and Limits
The yearly counts were 17 in 2013, 20 in 2014, 14 in 2015, 11 in 2016, 16 in 2017, and 18 in 2018. That is 5% of the 2,059 Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. All were tried 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 the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Yokosuka, Japan with a trial date in 2013–2018 (96 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
- Yokosuka, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 51 Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan, 2019–2023 (another period)
- Yokosuka, Japan Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 21 Cases Show (another period)
- Mayport, Florida Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 97 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2013–2018? 83 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Did Assault Cases at Yokosuka, Japan Change After 2019?
- Did Sexual Assault Cases at Yokosuka, Japan Change 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.