What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2017
Yokosuka, Japan held 16 courts-martial in 2017. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 73% of the cases with charges listed, and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) in 47%, compared with 37% and 19% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2017
Short answer: Yokosuka, Japan held 16 courts-martial in 2017. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 73% of the cases with charges listed, and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) in 47%, compared with 37% and 19% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 8-month median service-wide.
Assault and Sexual Assault Charges
15 of the 16 records list charges. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 11 of them (73%), compared with 37% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017. Article 120 appeared in 7 cases (47%), compared with 19%.
Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), Article 80 (attempts), Article 107 (false official statements), and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 3 cases (20%). Each of those shares was higher than its service-wide share. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 73% | 37% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 47% | 19% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 20% | 10% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 20% | 10% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 20% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 20% | 13% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 1 | 7% | 3% |
| Art. 89 Disrespect toward superior officer; assault of superior officer | 1 | 7% | 1% |
Shorter Median Confinement, Some Long Sentences
14 cases ended in a conviction, and all 14 sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 8-month median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences. They are set at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each one covers every charge in the case.
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial heard 12 of the 16 cases (75%). Special courts-martial heard the rest. 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.
Among the accused with rank recorded, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 31%, NCOs 62%, and officers 6%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members made up 66%.
Pleas and Full Acquittals
10 accused pleaded guilty and 6 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. Contested cases made up 38% of those with a plea recorded, compared with 26% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 2 of the 6 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Punitive Discharges
8 of the 14 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (57%): 4 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 68%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Twentynine Palms and Pearl Harbor
Twentynine Palms, California tried 20 cases in 2017 and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii tried 21. Both had a median confinement of 6 months, longer than the 4 months at Yokosuka. Their punitive discharge rates were 80% and 72%, both higher than at Yokosuka. At Pearl Harbor, 19% of cases were contested, and 2 of 4 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | 16 | 38% | 2 of 6 | 4 months | 57% |
| Twentynine Palms, California | 20 | — | — | 6 months | 80% |
| Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | 21 | 19% | 2 of 4 | 6 months | 72% |
Rules and Records
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later created judge-alone special courts-martial and written plea agreements, which did not apply here. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum. The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, offense dates, or cases 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 tried at Yokosuka, Japan with a trial date in 2017 (16 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)
- What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2016 (previous / next)
- What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2018 (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.