When a person hears Court Martial, they often only think of the military trial itself. There are a lot of big pieces that go into getting to the military trial. While no Court Martial is exactly the same, they do follow general timelines. If you are wondering, “how long does a Court Martial take?” below is a timeline of ranges from real Court Martials compared to the Sample Case and Court Martial Steps to help break down the Court Martial timeline.

• Day 1 – Alleged Crime Occurs

When an alleged crime occurs it can be reported immediately after the event or years later. Some alleged crimes see the complaining witness dial 911 at the scene and some see the alleged crime reported days, weeks, or even years later.

In the Sample Case, there are two alleged crimes. SPC Smith’s alleged domestic violence against his wife on July 31, 2023 and SPC Smith’s alleged sexual assault of PVT Sanchez on December 31, 2023. The domestic violence allegation does not come out until PVT Sanchez starts telling law enforcement in January 2024. However, July 31, 2023 is Day 1 of the alleged crime because that domestic violence date eventually is on SPC Smith’s charge sheet.

• Day 156 – Criminal Investigation

Once a crime is reported, the criminal investigation begins. That criminal investigation can be only a few weeks if it is a UA failure or years if it is a sexual assault. From the date of an alleged crime being reported until a servicemember’s name is on a charge sheet, it can be as short as three months and as long as one and a half years of criminal investigation that a servicemember goes through.

The length of the criminal investigation depends on how many witnesses there are to interview, if DNA has to be collected and analyzed, if the servicemember makes a statement to investigators or not. In our SPC Smith Sample Case, it is Day 156 that the criminal investigation begins. It is not until July 1, 2024 that charges are preferred against him.

• Day 337 – Criminal Charges (Preferred Charges)

Law enforcement, the chain of command, and prosecutors all work together to bring criminal charges against a servicemember. It is the prosecutors who use the evidence law enforcement and the chain of command provide to make the charge sheet. Those specific UCMJ charges against the servicemember that are read and handed to him are the preferred charges.

In the SPC Smith Sample Case, it is not until July 1, 2024 that he is brought into the command’s office or a legal office, placed at attention, and had the charges against him read out loud to him. It is Day 337 from the first alleged crime (domestic violence) in late July 2023 that SPC Smith is now officially charged with military crimes.

• Day 338 – Military Defense Lawyer

When the charges are read to the servicemember he is also told to contact a military defense lawyer. The name of the military defense lawyer office will depend on the branch of service the servicemember is from. That military defense lawyer is a fellow uniformed servicemember and is effectively like a public defender.

Hopefully, SPC Smith can make quick contact with a military provided defense lawyer. That is because within about one week from the preferred charges being read to him he will get notice of the Article 32 Hearing. If SPC Smith already has a criminal defense lawyer, that lawyer can accept the notice on SPC Smith’s behalf.

• Day 358 – Article 32 Hearing

A Preliminary Hearing Officer (PHO) will give the prosecutor and defense lawyer notice of the Article 32 hearing about a week after the servicemember has received his preferred charges. The PHO will generally set the Article 32 hearing for about three weeks after the servicemember has received his preferred charges.

For SPC Smith, that means his preliminary hearing to see if there is enough evidence to go forward with a Court Martial against him will be on July 22, 2024.

• Day 408 – Criminal Charges (Referred Charges)

If the PHO says there is probable cause that the charges against the servicemember did occur, the case can then move forward to Court Martial. The PHO will listen to evidence at the Article 32 hearing and then create a report saying if the case should go forward or not. If it does, the charges on the charge sheet will stay the same, but a person higher in the chain of command will sign the referred charge sheet.

For SPC Smith, he now knows the charges against him are going to trial because on September 10, 2024 he is handed the preferred charges. Next, he will head to a military courtroom.

• Day 415 – Arraignment

At the arraignment, the servicemember and his criminal defense lawyer will have their first appearance before a Military Judge. This occurs about a week after the referred charges are given to the servicemember. In that short period before the arraignment, the criminal defense lawyer and the prosecutors will send their available court dates to the Military Judge for the Military Judge to issue a Pretrial Order (PTO) right before or at the Arraignment. That PTO is like PCS orders in that it lays out exact dates for things to be done by the criminal defense lawyer and the prosecutors.

SPC Smith is arraigned on September 17, 2024. He will not be in court next until any motions hearings.

• Day 491 – Litigation

There are a lot of documents requested and exchanged by the criminal defense lawyers and the prosecutors during litigation. However, if there are any disputes, that the lawyers cannot agree on, they are argued before the Military Judge at a motions hearing. That is done in court and the servicemember is present with his criminal defense lawyer for that. An example of a motion in the litigation phase is that the criminal defense lawyer wants the complaining witness’ expedited transfer request because he believes she is making this up to get to a better duty station, but the prosecutors will not turn it over to the defense team. Therefore, there is evidence presented before the Military Judge for the criminal defense lawyer to request and obtain documents the prosecutors are not allowing the defense team access to.

SPC Smith and his criminal defense lawyer are in court for the motions hearing on December 2, 2024.

• Day 554 – Trial

Finally, a servicemember has his day in court during trial, what everyone thinks of when they hear Court Martial. Depending on the type of case, the trial could be scheduled anywhere from one day to multiple weeks. That trial date, along with all other key dates are listed in the Military Judge’s PTO.

SPC Smith’s alleged domestic violence and sexual assault case will have many witnesses. His trial is scheduled for February 3 to February 7, 2025.

• Day 558 – Post-Trial

If someone is found not guilty at the end of the Court Martial, the entire matter is over. It is documented and the servicemember can return to formation because he has been fully acquitted. However, if the servicemember is found guilty of any charge against him, there is about an hour break and the defense and prosecution go right into sentencing.

If SPC Smith is found guilty, he then begins a long process from military separation to prison. If SPC Smith is found not guilty of the charges against him, he can be back in his regular status with his unit by February 7, 2025. From the first alleged crime of July 31, 2023 to the not guilty at the end of the Court Martial, SPC Smith was in this fight for a long time because the Court Martial timeline is not short.