Comparing Yokosuka, Japan and Twentynine Palms, California: Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019–2023
Yokosuka, Japan had 51 courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Twentynine Palms, California had 47. At Yokosuka, 4 of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (36%), while 0 of 6 did at Twentynine Palms.
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Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › vs. Twentynine Palms, California
Short answer: Yokosuka, Japan had 51 courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Twentynine Palms, California had 47. At Yokosuka, 4 of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (36%), while 0 of 6 did at Twentynine Palms. Article 128, assault, was charged in 35% of Yokosuka cases, compared with 17% at Twentynine Palms.
Verdicts When the Accused Contested the Charges
At Yokosuka, 11 contested cases reached a verdict. 4 of them ended in a full acquittal (36%), and 1 more ended in a partial acquittal, a finding of not guilty on at least one charge or specification and guilty on another. At Twentynine Palms, 0 of 6 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Both groups are small. A single verdict moves these shares by several points.
| 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% |
Assault and Sexual Assault Charges at Yokosuka
Every one of the 51 Yokosuka records lists the charges. A case charging three articles is counted under each of them. Article 128 was the most common charge, in 18 cases (35%). Article 112a, the drug article, was next, in 15 cases (29%), compared with 34% at Twentynine Palms.
Article 120, rape and sexual assault, appeared in 20% of Yokosuka cases and 5% of Twentynine Palms cases. Article 120c, other sexual misconduct, appeared in 8% and 0%. Two charges were less common at Yokosuka: Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation (12% compared with 37%), and Article 134, the general article (10% compared with 22%).
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Twentynine Palms, California |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 18 | 35% | 17% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 29% | 34% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 10 | 20% | 5% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 7 | 14% | 20% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 6 | 12% | 17% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 12% | 37% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 10% | 22% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 4 | 8% | 0% |
Every Drug Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
40 Yokosuka cases ended in a guilty plea, and 11 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. Those 11 are the contested cases. The contested share was 22%, compared with 30% at Twentynine Palms.
Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 100% of the time (15 of 15), the most among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 20% of the time (2 of 10). The records do not explain any plea.
Results for the Top 3 Charges
All 15 Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article (100%), with a median confinement of 8 months. Article 128 ended in a conviction on that article in 14 of 18 cases (78%), with a median of 6 months.
Article 120 ended in a conviction on that article in 6 of 10 cases (60%), the lowest share of the 3. Its median confinement was the longest, at 3.5 years. Rows overlap, because one case can include several of these articles.
| 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 |
Confinement and Its Length
Of 47 Yokosuka convictions, 40 included confinement. The median term was 10 months, longer than the 8 months at Twentynine Palms. A quarter of the Yokosuka sentences were 2.1 years or longer.
13 of 47 Yokosuka convictions (28%) carried more than one year, compared with 20% at Twentynine Palms. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were 32% at Yokosuka and 22% at Twentynine Palms. No confinement was 15% at Yokosuka and 22% at Twentynine Palms.
Each sentence here is the one adjudged at trial and covers all charges in the case. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or an appeal could change it later, and those steps are not shown.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Twentynine Palms, California in the same years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 15% | 22% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 26% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 15 | 32% | 22% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 21% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 6% | 2% |
Court Level
24 of the 51 Yokosuka cases were general courts-martial (47%), compared with 36% at Twentynine Palms. The other 27 were special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial has a one-year limit.
At the general level, 90% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2.5 years. At the special level, 81% did, and the median was 5 months.
Discharges and Rank
57% of enlisted convictions at Yokosuka ended with a punitive discharge: 13 bad-conduct and 13 dishonorable. At Twentynine Palms, the share was 54%. 1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears, and none was dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.
The Yokosuka accused were 32 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 18 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. At Twentynine Palms, 73% were junior enlisted, so the Yokosuka group was more senior.
Cases by Year
Yokosuka had 15 cases in 2019, 14 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 8 in 2022, and 12 in 2023. The two installations tried a similar number of Navy and Marine Corps cases, so this page compares shares rather than counts.
What Is Missing From These Records
The records include only cases that reached a courtroom. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and cases with no action are absent, and the records do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Many Navy and Marine Corps records from before December 2020 omit the plea and forum.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Yokosuka, Japan (51) and Twentynine Palms, California (47) with trial dates in 2019–2023. Each figure for Yokosuka, Japan is set beside the same figure for Twentynine Palms, California.
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)
- Twentynine Palms, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Bremerton, Washington vs. Camp Pendleton, California: Two Navy-Marine Corps Installations Side by Side, 2013–2018
- Bremerton, Washington vs. Okinawa, Japan: Two Navy-Marine Corps Installations Side by Side, 2019–2023
- Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia, 2024–2026: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
- Camp Pendleton, California and San Diego, California, 2024–2026: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
- Comparing Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Mayport, Florida: Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2013–2018
- Comparing Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019–2023
- Comparing Norfolk, Virginia and San Diego, California: Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019–2023
- 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.