What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2019
Yokosuka, Japan held 15 courts-martial in 2019. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. 75% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2019
Short answer: Yokosuka, Japan held 15 courts-martial in 2019. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. 75% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% service-wide.
Sentences Were Longer Than the Service Median
12 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 11 of those sentences included confinement (92%). The median confinement was 10 months. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, the median was 6 months. Among the sentences at Yokosuka, a quarter were 3 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences. They come from the trial itself, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges
9 of the 12 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (75%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 60%. 4 of the 9 were dishonorable discharges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Each of the 15 records lists charges. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 7 cases (47%), compared with 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 4 cases (27%), compared with 14%.
Drug offenses under Article 112a appeared in 3 cases (20%), lower than the 30% service-wide. Article 134 also appeared in 3 cases (20%), compared with 12%. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 47% | 34% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 27% | 14% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 3 | 20% | 30% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 20% | 12% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 7% | 7% |
| Art. 87 Missing movement | 1 | 7% | 1% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 1 | 7% | 8% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 1 | 7% | 3% |
Pleas and Full Acquittals
11 accused pleaded guilty and 4 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. Contested cases made up 27% of those with a plea recorded, about the same as the 28% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 3 of the 4 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of all charges.
Rank and Court Level
By rank, the accused were 8 junior enlisted members and 7 NCOs. No officers were tried. Special courts-martial heard 8 cases and general courts-martial heard 7. The general share of 47% compares with 43% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
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 can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.
Okinawa and Bremerton
Okinawa, Japan tried 25 cases in 2019, with a median confinement of 1.8 years and a punitive discharge rate of 79%. Bremerton, Washington tried 47 cases, with a median of 3 months and a rate of 38%. At Bremerton, 4 of 5 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 | 15 | 27% | 3 of 4 | 10 months | 75% |
| Okinawa, Japan | 25 | 1 of 2 | 0 of 1 | 1.8 years | 79% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 47 | 11% | 4 of 5 | 3 months | 38% |
Limits of the 2019 Records
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, and the records give trial dates, not offense dates. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so plea counts use only the records that list them. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and the plea terms are not in these records.
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 2019 (15 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 2018 (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan: 2020 (previous / next)
- Inside 51 Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan, 2019–2023 (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.