Camp Pendleton, California and San Diego, California, 2024–2026: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
From 2024–2026, the records hold 142 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton, California and 126 at San Diego, California.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › vs. San Diego, California
Short answer: From 2024–2026, the records hold 142 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton, California and 126 at San Diego, California. 15% of contested cases that reached a verdict at Camp Pendleton ended in a full acquittal (5 of 34), compared with 27% at San Diego, and 60% of convicted enlisted members at Camp Pendleton received a punitive discharge, compared with 47%.
Fewer Full Acquittals at Camp Pendleton
34 contested cases at Camp Pendleton reached a verdict. 5 of them ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge (15%). At San Diego, 12 of 44 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (27%).
6 more Camp Pendleton cases split the charges. In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.
A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. San Diego had more of them: 37% of cases with a recorded plea, against 27% at Camp Pendleton. At Camp Pendleton, 92 accused pleaded guilty and 34 contested at least one charge, with 126 of 142 records listing the plea.
Punitive Discharges
Among 121 enlisted members convicted at Camp Pendleton, 72 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (60%). The San Diego share was 47%. 22 of the Camp Pendleton discharges were dishonorable.
1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in the Camp Pendleton records, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Orders, Assault, and Domestic Violence Charges
All 142 Camp Pendleton cases list charges. One case can fall under several articles.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 128 (assault) were each charged in 20% of Camp Pendleton cases. At San Diego, the shares were 13% and 11%. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 16% of Camp Pendleton cases and 10% of San Diego cases.
Two charges were less common at Camp Pendleton. Article 112a (drug offenses) appeared in 10% of cases, against 19% at San Diego, and Article 134 (the general article) in 16%, against 21%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) appeared in 6% of Camp Pendleton cases and 1% of San Diego cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, San Diego, California |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 29 | 20% | 13% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 28 | 20% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 23 | 16% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 23 | 16% | 10% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 14 | 10% | 19% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 10 | 7% | 2% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 9 | 6% | 1% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 9 | 6% | 10% |
Confinement Lengths
Camp Pendleton had 127 convictions, and 109 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, about the same as the 5 months at San Diego.
San Diego had more sentences with no confinement: 31% of convictions, against 14% at Camp Pendleton. Sentences of more than one year came about as often at both: 25 of 127 Camp Pendleton convictions (20%), against 21% at San Diego.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, San Diego, California |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 18 | 14% | 31% |
| Under 6 months | 62 | 49% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 22 | 17% | 12% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 18 | 14% | 12% |
| 5 years or more | 7 | 6% | 9% |
How Each Top Charge Ended
Article 92 most often ended in a conviction on that article: 28 of 29 cases (97%), with a median confinement of 3 months. Article 134 ended in a conviction in 22 of 23 cases (96%), with the longest median among the top charges, 2.4 years.
Article 128 ended in a conviction in 26 of 28 cases (93%), with a median of 4 months. Article 128b had the lowest share, 21 of 23 (91%), with a median of 5 months. These rows overlap, because one case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 29 | 28 (97%) | 3 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 28 | 26 (93%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 23 | 22 (96%) | 2.4 years |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 23 | 21 (91%) | 5 months |
Court Level
General courts-martial made up 31% of the 135 Camp Pendleton cases with a court level listed (42 of 135). 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. The court level is not listed for 7 cases.
The 42 general courts-martial produced a median confinement of 2 years, and 22% were contested. The 93 special courts-martial produced a median of 3 months, and 29% were contested.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Pendleton, California | 142 | 27% | 5 of 34 | 4 months | 60% |
| San Diego, California | 126 | 37% | 12 of 44 | 5 months | 47% |
A More Junior Group of Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 73% of the accused at Camp Pendleton, NCOs 25%, and officers 2%. At San Diego, junior enlisted members were 56% of the accused.
Timing and Rule Changes
The records run from January 2024 to October 2026. By year: 2024: 50, 2025: 55, 2026: 37. The 2026 count is a partial year.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules turn on the offense date, which these records do not give.
Limits of the Records
These records include only cases that went to a court-martial. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not counted. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Camp Pendleton, California (142) and San Diego, California (126) with trial dates in 2024–2026. Each figure for Camp Pendleton, California is set beside the same figure for San Diego, 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
- Camp Pendleton, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- San Diego, 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
- 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
- Comparing Parris Island, South Carolina and Pensacola, Florida: Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019–2023
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Camp Pendleton, California, 2024–2026
- Christopher Capasso
- Cory Carver
- Alexander Douvas
- John Ferriter
- Todd Gaston
- Andrea Goode
- Matthew Harris
- Douglas Hatch
- Andrea Lockhart
- Peter Mcneilly
- Mishonda Mosley
- Jason Pfeil
- Derek Poteet
- David Segraves
- Aran Walsh
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.