What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2014
The records list 20 courts-martial at Yokosuka, Japan in 2014, and 10 of them were contested. That contested share of 50% compares with 33% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 3 months, shorter than the 5-month median service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2014
Short answer: The records list 20 courts-martial at Yokosuka, Japan in 2014, and 10 of them were contested. That contested share of 50% compares with 33% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 3 months, shorter than the 5-month median service-wide.
Contested Cases and Their Results
10 accused pleaded guilty and 10 contested at least one charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 50%, compared with 33% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2014.
3 of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (30%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the full-acquittal rate was 42%.
General Courts-Martial Compared With Special Courts-Martial
The 20 cases split into 10 general and 10 special courts-martial. The general share of 50% compares with 46% service-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
The court levels differed. The median confinement was 1.2 years in the general courts-martial and 52 days in the special courts-martial. The contested share was 80% in the general courts-martial and 20% in the special courts-martial.
Sexual Assault Was the Most Common Charge
19 of the 20 records list charges. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 8 cases (42%), compared with 30% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 6 cases (32%), compared with 12%.
Assault under Article 128 also appeared in 6 cases (32%), lower than the 40% service-wide. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) appeared in 3 cases (16%), compared with 4%. Article 134 and Article 107 each appeared in 4 cases (21%), compared with 11%. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 8 | 42% | 30% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 6 | 32% | 40% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 32% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 21% | 11% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 21% | 11% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 3 | 16% | 4% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 2 | 11% | 7% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 2 | 11% | 3% |
Confinement and Discharges
17 cases ended in a conviction, and 15 of those sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months. Among the sentences with confinement, a quarter were 1.2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
9 of the 16 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (56%), about the same as the 59% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 2 of the 9 were dishonorable discharges. 1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in these records and was dismissed.
A Younger Group of Accused
14 accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 5 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 49% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this group was more junior than the service as a whole.
Mayport and Jacksonville
Mayport, Florida tried 21 cases in 2014 and Jacksonville, Florida tried 22. Their contested shares were 25% and 36%, both lower than at Yokosuka. Their median confinement was 4 months and 1 year. Their punitive discharge rates were 59% and 63%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | 20 | 50% | 3 of 10 | 3 months | 56% |
| Mayport, Florida | 21 | 25% | 4 of 5 | 4 months | 59% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 22 | 36% | 3 of 8 | 1 year | 63% |
What the 2014 Records Do Not Cover
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, so its later rules on panels, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum. The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Yokosuka, Japan with a trial date in 2014 (20 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
- Yokosuka, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan: 2013 (previous / next)
- What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2015 (previous / next)
- Yokosuka, Japan, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 96 Cases (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.