Inside 51 Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan, 2019–2023
From 2019–2023, Yokosuka, Japan had 51 courts-martial. The median adjudged confinement was 10 months; across the Navy and Marine Corps it was 6 months. Of the 11 contested cases with a verdict, 4 were full acquittals (36%); the service-wide rate was 29%.
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Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2019–2023
Short answer: From 2019–2023, Yokosuka, Japan had 51 courts-martial. The median adjudged confinement was 10 months; across the Navy and Marine Corps it was 6 months. Of the 11 contested cases with a verdict, 4 were full acquittals (36%); the service-wide rate was 29%.
Article 120 Cases: More Charges, Fewer Guilty Pleas
Every one of the 51 records lists its charges. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was in 20% of cases here and 14% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) was in 8% here and 4% service-wide.
Only 2 of the 10 cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea (20%). Every case charging Article 112a (drug offenses) did: 15 of 15. The records do not say why an accused pleaded or fought.
Among the top charges, Article 120 had the fewest convictions on the charged article: 6 of 10 (60%). Its median confinement after a conviction, 3.5 years, was also the longest. All 15 drug cases ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 8 months. For Article 128 (assault), 14 of 18 did (78%), with a median of 6 months.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 18 | 14 (78%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 15 (100%) | 8 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 10 | 6 (60%) | 3.5 years |
Other Charges
Article 107 (false official statements) was in 14% of cases, and in 8% service-wide. Article 81 (conspiracy) was in 12%, and in 7%. Assault was in 35% of cases here and 31% service-wide. Drug offenses were in 29% here and 25% service-wide.
Article 92 (orders violation) was in 12% of cases here, lower than the 18% service-wide. Article 134 (the general article) was in 10%, also lower than 18%. An article is counted once per case, so 1 case can be in several rows.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 18 | 35% | 31% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 29% | 25% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 10 | 20% | 14% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 7 | 14% | 8% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 6 | 12% | 7% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 12% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 10% | 18% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 4 | 8% | 4% |
Pleas and Verdicts
In a contested case, the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. There were 40 guilty pleas and 11 contested cases. The 22% contested share compares with 31% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Of the 11 contested cases with a verdict, 4 were full acquittals (36%). The rate elsewhere in the service was 29%. 1 more was a partial acquittal (9%): not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
These counts come from a small number of trials, and 1 case can change them noticeably.
Sentences Over 1 Year Were More Common
There were 47 cases with a conviction on at least one charge, and 40 of the sentences included confinement (85%). The median term was 10 months, and a quarter were 2.1 years or longer. All of these are adjudged sentences. Each covers all the charges in a case and comes before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
13 of 47 convictions (28%) had more than one year of confinement. Service-wide, 24% did. Only 26% of convictions here had terms under 6 months. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 35% did.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 15% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 26% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 15 | 32% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 21% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 6% | 5% |
Sentences by Court Level
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.
Yokosuka had 24 general courts-martial and 27 special courts-martial. The 47% general share compares with 44% service-wide. The median confinement at general courts-martial was 2.5 years, and 33% of those cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 5 months, and 11% were contested.
Punitive Discharges and Rank
Of 46 convicted enlisted members, 26 got a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (57%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 63% did. 13 of the 26 were dishonorable. There was 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed.
Members whose sentence had no punitive discharge can still be administratively separated later. By rank, 63% of the accused were junior enlisted members, 35% were NCOs, and 2% were officers. Service-wide, 64% were junior enlisted.
Changes Since 2013–2018
In 2013–2018, Yokosuka had 96 cases, about 16 a year. In 2019–2023, it had about 10 a year (full years only). By year: 2019: 15, 2020: 14, 2021: 2, 2022: 8, 2023: 12. The 51 cases were 3% of the 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
Here is how 4 measures compare, earlier period first. Contested share: 36%, then 22%. Full acquittals in contested cases with a verdict: 14 of 34, then 4 of 11. Median confinement: 6 months, then 10 months. Enlisted punitive discharges: 65%, then 57%. Groups this small can change with a few cases, so read these as direction only.
| 2013–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 96 | 51 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 36% | 22% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 14 of 34 | 4 of 11 |
| Convictions with confinement | 94% | 85% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 10 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 65% | 57% |
| General courts-martial | 48% | 47% |
Twentynine Palms and Parris Island
Twentynine Palms, California had 47 cases and Parris Island, South Carolina had 44 in the same years. Each had a 30% contested share, higher than Yokosuka's 22%. Each had 0 full acquittals in 6 contested cases with a verdict. Yokosuka had 4 of 11.
Yokosuka's 10-month median confinement was between the 8 months at Twentynine Palms and the 11 months at Parris Island.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | 51 | 22% | 4 of 11 | 10 months | 57% |
| Twentynine Palms, California | 47 | 30% | 0 of 6 | 8 months | 54% |
| Parris Island, South Carolina | 44 | 30% | 0 of 6 | 11 months | 82% |
What the Records Do Not Show
Charges, pleas, findings, sentences, and trial dates are in the records. Offense dates, the evidence, and the plea terms are not. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea.
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 2019–2023 (51 cases), compared with all 1,991 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)
- Yokosuka, Japan, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 96 Cases (another period)
- Yokosuka, Japan Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 21 Cases Show (another period)
- What Was Tried at Twentynine Palms, California, 2019–2023? 47 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Inside 44 Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina, 2019–2023 (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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Yokosuka, Japan, 2019–2023
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.