Attempt Charges at San Diego, California, 2013–2018: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › Article 80, 2013–2018

Based on 20 cases · 2013–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Sentences Were Shorter Than in Attempt Cases Elsewhere

Article 80 makes it a crime to attempt another offense. An attempt charge always involves some other offense the accused is alleged to have tried to commit. At San Diego from 2013 to 2018, the records hold 20 attempt cases. On the main sentence measures, they had lower results than attempt cases across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Of the 19 cases that ended in a conviction on at least one charge, 14 sentences included confinement (74%). The median confinement was 10 months, shorter than the 1.6 years median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 2 years or longer.

Punitive Discharges Were Less Common

Of 16 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (62%). That is less often than the 81% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 80 cases. Only 2 of those 10 were dishonorable discharges.

Officers were a larger part of this group than in most. Of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.

Fewer General Courts-Martial

11 of the 20 cases were general courts-martial (55%), compared with 71% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 80 cases in 2013–2018. The rest were special courts-martial.

Court level sets the maximum sentence. 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 cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The general court-martial share, the median confinement, and the punitive discharge rate were all lower here. The records cannot show how the court level was chosen in any case.

What Other Offenses Were Charged?

19 of the 20 cases charged at least one other article. Article 121 (larceny) was the most common, in 7 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 5. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) and Article 120 (sexual assault) were charged in 4 each, and Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure) in 2.

The records list the articles charged but not which offense each attempt involved. A sentence covers every charge in the case, so the confinement figures reflect all the findings.

Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty

15 of the accused pleaded guilty and 5 contested at least one charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty or enters a mixed plea. The contested share of 25% is lower than the 31% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 80 cases overall.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so this post does not report who decided guilt. There were only 5 contested cases, too few for a useful acquittal rate for attempt charges at San Diego.

The Accused Were More Senior

By rank, the accused were 8 junior enlisted members, 9 NCOs, and 3 officers. The group is more senior than in Navy and Marine Corps-wide Article 80 cases.

The records do not show how long any accused had served or what duties each one held. They also do not show whether rank played any part in how a case was charged.

Number of Cases

These 20 cases were 7% of all 285 courts-martial at San Diego in 2013–2018. They were tried from August 2013 to November 2018: 1 in 2013, 5 in 2014, 3 in 2015, 6 in 2016, 2 in 2017, and 3 in 2018. The yearly counts are too small to show a trend. In a group this small, 1 or 2 cases can change any percentage in this post by several points. The comparisons with service-wide figures show direction, not precise differences.

The Rules Before 2019 and What the Records Cannot Show

Every trial here came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to these cases.

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not give offense dates, describe the evidence or plea terms, or include conduct handled outside a court-martial.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 80 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.