San Diego, California in 2017: 45 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
San Diego, California held 45 courts-martial in 2017. Of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (73%), compared with 54% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 44% of cases, compared with 31% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2017
Short answer: San Diego, California held 45 courts-martial in 2017. Of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (73%), compared with 54% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 44% of cases, compared with 31% service-wide.
Most Contested Cases Ended in Full Acquittal
Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict in 2017, 8 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, with a full not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.
That 73% full-acquittal rate was higher than the 54% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The number of contested cases is small, so the rate can change a great deal from one year to the next.
Drug Charges Were the Most Common
Charge lists exist for 41 of the 45 cases, and 18 of those included Article 112a. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 15 cases, or 37%, the same share as in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 22% of cases, compared with 19%. Orders violations under Article 92 were charged in 17%, compared with 16%. Some articles were less common here. The general article, Article 134, was charged in 5%, compared with 13%. Attempts under Article 80 were 5%, compared with 10%. False official statements under Article 107 were 7%, compared with 11%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 18 | 44% | 31% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 37% | 37% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 22% | 19% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 4 | 10% | 8% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 7% | 11% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 2 | 5% | 10% |
| Art. 134 General article | 2 | 5% | 13% |
Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases
Pleas are recorded for 40 of the 45 cases: 29 guilty pleas and 11 not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share of 28% was slightly higher than the 26% for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Drug cases ended in a guilty plea 89% of the time (16 of 18), the highest among the top charges. Assault cases ended in a guilty plea 62% of the time (8 of 13). The records do not say why any accused chose a plea.
Results for the Top Charges
Drug cases ended in a conviction on Article 112a in 16 of 18 (89%). Assault cases ended in a conviction on that article in 11 of 15 (73%). Both had a median confinement of 6 months.
Article 120 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 4 of 9. Those 4 convictions had a median confinement of 4 years, the longest of any charge in the table. The rows overlap, since 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. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 18 | 16 (89%) | 6 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 11 (73%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 4 (4 of 9) | 4 years |
Confinement in 2017
There were 36 convictions, and 29 included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, about the same as the 8 months for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of confinement sentences were 1.2 years or longer. All figures are adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
19% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 10% elsewhere. Sentences longer than one year were 9 of 36 convictions (25%), compared with 31%. Sentences of 5 years or more were 3%, compared with 10%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 19% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 11 | 31% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 25% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 22% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 10% |
Punitive Discharges Were Less Common Than the Service Rate
Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (56%). Of those, 8 were dishonorable discharges. The rest of the Navy and Marine Corps had a rate of 68%. Of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed.
A sentence with no punitive discharge can still lead to an administrative separation.
Court Level and Rank
There were 15 general and 30 special courts-martial. The general share of 33% compares with 44% across the Navy and Marine Corps. At general courts-martial, 91% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 2.5 years. At special courts-martial, which are capped at one year, 76% did, with a median of 4 months.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 61% of the accused, compared with 66% service-wide. NCOs were 32% and officers were 7%.
Compared With 2016 and Similar Installations
The number of cases was 45 in both 2016 and 2017. The contested share went from 22% to 28%. Full acquittals went from 7 of 10 to 8 of 11. Median confinement went from 6 months to 7 months. The share of convictions with any confinement went from 87% to 81%. In small groups, changes like these show direction, not precise size.
Bremerton, Washington tried 50 cases with an 11% contested share and a median confinement of 5 months. Norfolk, Virginia tried 39 cases and 32% were contested. Of 12 contested cases that reached a verdict there, 5 ended in a full acquittal, and its median was 10 months.
| 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 45 | 45 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 22% | 28% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 10 | 8 of 11 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 81% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 56% | 56% |
| General courts-martial | 36% | 33% |
The Rules in Force and What the Records Cannot Show
The 2017 trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records do not show offense dates, evidence, or plea terms. They do not include cases closed by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 45 | 28% | 8 of 11 | 7 months | 56% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 50 | 11% | 3 of 5 | 5 months | 46% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 39 | 32% | 5 of 12 | 10 months | 59% |
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 2017 (45 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)
- What San Diego, California Tried in 2016 (previous / next)
- San Diego, California in 2018: 36 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (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
- 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.