San Diego, California in 2013: 44 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
San Diego, California tried 44 courts-martial in 2013, and only 20% were contested, compared with 32% across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 21% of cases, compared with 12% service-wide. Assault charges were less common than elsewhere.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2013
Short answer: San Diego, California tried 44 courts-martial in 2013, and only 20% were contested, compared with 32% across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 21% of cases, compared with 12% service-wide. Assault charges were less common than elsewhere.
Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty
Of 44 accused at San Diego in 2013, 35 pleaded guilty and 9 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 20% was lower than the 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Contested cases were more common at general courts-martial. General courts-martial were contested 50% of the time, and special courts-martial 9% of the time. Of the 9 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal.
Drug and Theft Charges Were More Common
Charge lists cover 42 of 44 cases. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) was charged in 9 cases, 21%, compared with 12% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2013. Article 121 (larceny) was the most common charge, in 11 cases or 26%, compared with 20%. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 5 cases, 12%, compared with 7%.
Assault was less common. Article 128 was charged in 21% of cases, compared with 38% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (orders violations) was charged in 17%, compared with 22%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 19% of cases and Article 134, the general article, in 14%. Both are slightly lower than the service shares. Article 107 (false official statements) was slightly higher, at 21% compared with 17%. A case charging several articles counts once under each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 121 Larceny | 11 | 26% | 20% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 21% | 12% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 9 | 21% | 17% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 21% | 38% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 8 | 19% | 22% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 17% | 22% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 14% | 17% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 5 | 12% | 7% |
Most Top Charges Ended in Conviction
Larceny ended in a conviction on Article 121 in 11 of 11 cases, with a median confinement of 8 months. False official statements under Article 107 ended in a conviction in 9 of 9 cases, with a median of 6 months.
Drug and assault charges each ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9 cases, both with a median of 5 months. One case can end in a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 121 Larceny | 11 | 11 (100%) | 8 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 5 months |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 6 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 5 months |
Sentences Were Similar to the Service
Of 41 convictions, 37 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of confinement sentences were 1 year or longer.
Most sentence lengths were close to service shares. No confinement was 10% in both. Under 6 months was 41%, compared with 44%. 6 months to 1 year was 27%, compared with 29%. The difference was at the top: 4 convictions (10%) carried 5 years or more, compared with 4%. Sentences longer than one year were 9 of 41 convictions (22%), compared with 17%.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in its case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 10% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 17 | 41% | 44% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 27% | 29% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 12% | 13% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 10% | 4% |
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
Only 12 of 44 cases (27%) were general courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The other 32 were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year.
Sentences were very different at each level. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 4 years. Special courts-martial had a median of 5 months.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Of 41 convicted enlisted members, 22 received a punitive discharge: 16 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. That 54% rate compares with 64% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
All of the Accused Were Enlisted
The accused were 19 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 25 NCOs (E-5 to E-9). There were 0 officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole, where 48% were junior enlisted.
Compared With Norfolk and Jacksonville
Norfolk, Virginia (52 cases) and Jacksonville, Florida (20 cases) had the most similar caseloads. Norfolk's contested share was 33% and Jacksonville's was 15%. In contested cases that reached a verdict, Norfolk had 5 of 17 full acquittals and Jacksonville had 1 of 3. The median confinement was 5 months at Norfolk and 7 months at Jacksonville, close to San Diego's 6 months. Their punitive discharge rates, 65% and 67%, were higher than San Diego's 54%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 44 | 20% | 3 of 9 | 6 months | 54% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 52 | 33% | 5 of 17 | 5 months | 65% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 20 | 15% | 1 of 3 | 7 months | 67% |
What the Records Cannot Show
These trials were under the rules in force before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. None of these records show offense dates, the evidence, plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at San Diego, California with a trial date in 2013 (44 cases).
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
- San Diego, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at San Diego, California: 2014 (previous / next)
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 285 Cases Show (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.