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# Behind S2 E2: Courts-Martial at MCAS Miramar by the Numbers
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/behind-s2-e2-courts-martial-at-mcas-miramar-by-the-numbers/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:33:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:11:31.000Z
- Description: From 2017–2026, 107 cases at MCAS Miramar, California reached a court-martial. Only 2 of 23 contested cases that reached a verdict (9%) ended in a full acquittal, compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for the service.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, MCAS Miramar, California

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Episode Companions](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/episode-companions/) › S2 E2

**Short answer:** From 2017–2026, 107 cases at MCAS Miramar, California reached a court-martial. Only 2 of 23 contested cases that reached a verdict (9%) ended in a full acquittal, compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for the service.

Based on 107 cases · 2017–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## The Podcast and the Records

S2 E2: Hazing on Miramar covers this installation on the podcast. This page sets out what the trial records show for MCAS Miramar from January 2017 through October 2026.

There were 13 cases in 2017, 13 in 2018, 14 in 2019, 8 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 9 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 19 in 2024, 13 in 2025, and 7 in 2026\. The 2026 count covers only part of the year.

## Few Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. A full acquittal means a finding of not guilty on every charge. Of the 23 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal (9%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the rate was 31%.

Another 5 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another.

## More Cases Were Contested

Only 59 of the 107 records list a plea. Of those, 36 were guilty pleas and 23 were contested. The contested share was 39%, compared with 32% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Navy and Marine Corps records from earlier years often leave out the plea, so these counts use only the records that list one.

Guilty pleas were more common for some charges than others. Cases charging Article 134 (the general article) ended in a guilty plea 67% of the time (8 of 12), the highest rate among the most common charges. Cases charging Article 128 (assault) ended in a guilty plea 36% of the time (4 of 11). The records do not show why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.

## Assault and Orders Violations Were the Most Common Charges

Charges are listed in 105 of the 107 records. A case with several articles is counted under each one. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, at 31%, compared with 28% service-wide. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 22% of cases, compared with 18%. Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) was charged in 8%, compared with 5%.

Article 120 (sexual assault) was slightly less common than in the service: 10%, compared with 13%. Drug offenses (Article 112a) and the general article (Article 134) were charged at about the same rates as in the service.

| UCMJ Article                                                                                                                                       | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault                                   | 33    | 31%        | 28%                                                   |
| [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 24    | 23%        | 22%                                                   |
| [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation         | 23    | 22%        | 18%                                                   |
| [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article                           | 19    | 18%        | 18%                                                   |
| [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault                            | 11    | 10%        | 13%                                                   |
| [Art. 80](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Attempts                                    | 10    | 10%        | 9%                                                    |
| [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence, numbered since 2019        | 8     | 8%         | 5%                                                    |
| [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements                 | 8     | 8%         | 8%                                                    |

## Results by Charge

Of the most common charges, Article 92 most often ended in a conviction on that article: 21 of 23, or 91%. Article 128 least often ended in a conviction on that article: 27 of 33, or 82%. A case can include a conviction on 1 article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.

When the conviction included Article 134, the median confinement was 1.5 years. It was 9 months with Article 112a, 6 months with Article 128, and 5 months with Article 92.

| Article                                                     | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Art. 128 Assault                                            | 33                | 27 (82%)                | 6 months                                |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 24                | 21 (88%)                | 9 months                                |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation                 | 23                | 21 (91%)                | 5 months                                |
| Art. 134 General article                                    | 19                | 17 (89%)                | 1.5 years                               |

## Confinement About the Same as in the Service

Of 94 convictions, 71 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the Navy and Marine Corps median. A quarter of the terms were 1.5 years or longer. Sentences of more than 1 year followed 22 of 94 convictions (23%), about the same as the 25% service-wide.

Sentences with no confinement were somewhat more common here: 24%, compared with 19%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 23          | 24%        | 19%                                                   |
| Under 6 months                  | 26          | 28%        | 35%                                                   |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 23          | 24%        | 21%                                                   |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 15          | 16%        | 18%                                                   |
| 5 years or more                 | 7           | 7%         | 7%                                                    |

## Court Levels, Rank, and Discharges

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. General courts-martial heard 43% of cases (46 of 107). Their median confinement was 1.5 years, and 32% of their cases were contested. At the 61 special courts-martial, the median confinement was 4 months, and 42% of cases were contested.

The accused were 62 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 30 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. This group is more junior than the service overall, where 63% of the accused were junior enlisted.

Of 91 convicted enlisted members, 59 received a punitive discharge: 40 bad-conduct discharges and 19 dishonorable discharges. The service-wide share was 61%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## Rules That Changed During These Years

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at 6 months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges also sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023.

These rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. So trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules.

## What the Records Cannot Show

Only cases that reached a courtroom are included. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and the plea terms are not in the records. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Every court-martial in the data tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2017–2026.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Episode Companions](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/episode-companions/) (hub)
- [What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2017–2018? 26 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/mcas-miramar-california-courts-martial-2017-2018/)
- [MCAS Miramar, California, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 42 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/mcas-miramar-california-courts-martial-2019-2023/)
- [What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2024–2026? 39 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/mcas-miramar-california-courts-martial-2024-2026/)
- [Camp Pendleton Courts-Martial Since 2020: The Numbers Behind S1 E32 and E33](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-pendleton-courts-martial-since-2020-the-numbers-behind-s1-e32-and-e33/)
- [Fort Hood After 2009: What Its Courts-Martial Look Like Now](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-hood-after-2009-what-its-courts-martial-look-like-now/)
- [Keesler AFB in the Records: The Data Behind S1 E11](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/keesler-afb-in-the-records-the-data-behind-s1-e11/)
- [Panels by the Numbers: The Data Behind S2 E24, Farce of a Panel](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/panels-by-the-numbers-s2e24/)
- [S2 E2: Hazing on Miramar](https://www.bodiesburied.com/s2e2-hazing-on-miramar/) (podcast, members)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.