San Diego, California in 2018: 36 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
San Diego, California tried 36 courts-martial in 2018. The general article, Article 134, was charged in 20% of cases, compared with 15% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Of convicted enlisted members, 63% received a punitive discharge, about the same as the 66% elsewhere.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2018
Short answer: San Diego, California tried 36 courts-martial in 2018. The general article, Article 134, was charged in 20% of cases, compared with 15% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Of convicted enlisted members, 63% received a punitive discharge, about the same as the 66% elsewhere.
The Accused Were More Senior
The accused in 2018 were more senior than in the rest of the service. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 42% of the accused, compared with 61% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. NCOs were 44%, and officers were 14%.
General courts-martial were also more common. General courts-martial, the only level that can impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge, were 42% of cases (15 of 36). The other 21 were special courts-martial.
Which Articles Were Charged
Charges are listed for 35 of the 36 cases. Drug cases under Article 112a and assault cases under Article 128 were each charged in 11 cases. Drug charges were more common than in the service, 31% compared with 26%. Assault was slightly less common, 31% compared with 34%.
Article 134, the general article, was charged in 7 cases, or 20%, compared with 15% elsewhere. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) were each charged in 5 cases, 14%. False official statements under Article 107 were charged in 11% of cases, the same as the service.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 31% | 26% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 31% | 34% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 20% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 5 | 14% | 10% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 5 | 14% | 16% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 11% | 11% |
| Art. 131b Obstruction, numbered since 2019 | 4 | 11% | 5% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 9% | 12% |
Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases
Pleas are recorded for 35 cases: 26 guilty pleas and 9 contested cases, meaning a not-guilty plea to at least one charge. The contested share of 26% was about the same as the 28% for the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Drug cases ended in a guilty plea 82% of the time (9 of 11), and assault cases 64% of the time (7 of 11). Of contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 of 9 ended in a full acquittal. The records do not say why any accused pleaded guilty or contested.
Drug and Assault Results
Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 11 (82%), with a median confinement of 5 months. Assault cases ended in a conviction on that article in 7 of 11 (64%), with a median of 4 months.
These rows can overlap, because one case may include a conviction under one article and an acquittal under another.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 9 (82%) | 5 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 7 (64%) | 4 months |
Confinement After Conviction
Of 29 cases that ended in a conviction on at least one charge, 24 included confinement (83%). The median confinement was 8 months, about the same as the 7 months for the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket. A quarter of confinement sentences were 2.5 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year were 8 of 29 convictions (28%), about the same as the 30% elsewhere. Sentences of 5 years or more were 10%, compared with 9%. All figures are adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 17% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 34% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 21% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 17% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 10% | 9% |
Punitive Discharges in 2018
Of 27 convicted enlisted members, 17 received a punitive discharge: 13 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. A punitive discharge is the most serious separation a court-martial can impose on an enlisted member. The 63% rate was slightly lower than the 66% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge.
A member whose sentence did not include a punitive discharge could still be separated administratively later.
Results by Court Level
General courts-martial at San Diego had a median confinement of 2.5 years and a 29% contested share. Special courts-martial, which are capped at one year, had a median of 4 months and a 24% contested share.
Bremerton, Washington, a similar installation, tried 28 cases in 2018 and 18% were contested. Of 5 contested cases that reached a verdict there, 0 ended in a full acquittal. Its median confinement was 6 months, and its enlisted punitive discharge rate was 46%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 36 | 26% | 7 of 9 | 8 months | 63% |
| Okinawa, Japan | 40 | 0 of 1 | — | 2.5 years | 79% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 28 | 18% | 0 of 5 | 6 months | 46% |
Changes Since 2017
The number of cases went from 45 to 36. The contested share went from 28% to 26%. Full acquittals went from 8 of 11 to 7 of 9. Median confinement went from 7 months to 8 months. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 56% to 63%. The general court-martial share went from 33% to 42%.
A few cases either way can cause changes of this size. The direction matters more than the exact figures.
| 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 45 | 36 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 28% | 26% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 8 of 11 | 7 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 81% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 56% | 63% |
| General courts-martial | 33% | 42% |
The Last Year Under the Old Rules
These were the last trials before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law brought fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements.
The records show trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum.
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 2018 (36 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)
- San Diego, California in 2017: 45 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at San Diego, California: 2019 (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.