Inside 173 Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2019–2023
San Diego, California tried 173 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023, 9% of the Navy and Marine Corps total. Of 52 contested cases that reached a verdict, 18 ended in a full acquittal (35%), compared with 29% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2019–2023
Short answer: San Diego, California tried 173 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023, 9% of the Navy and Marine Corps total. Of 52 contested cases that reached a verdict, 18 ended in a full acquittal (35%), compared with 29% service-wide. Of convicted enlisted members, 55% received a punitive discharge, compared with 63% across the service.
Results in Contested Cases
A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. At San Diego, 52 contested cases reached a verdict. In 18 of them (35%), the accused was acquitted of every charge. That rate is higher than the 29% in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Another 9 cases (17%) ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.
Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty
Plea entries exist for 172 of 173 cases: 120 guilty pleas and 52 contested cases. The contested share of 30% is about the same as the service figure of 31%.
The guilty plea rate was different for each charge. Cases charging Article 112a (drug) ended in a guilty plea 78% of the time (29 of 37), the highest among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 36% of the time (10 of 28). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested.
Charges Were Similar to the Service
Charge lists cover 167 of the 173 records, with each article counted once per case. Most top articles were close to their service shares. Article 128 (assault) was 28%, compared with 31%. Article 112a was 23%, compared with 25%. Article 120 was 17%, compared with 14%.
Article 121 (larceny) had the largest difference: 14%, compared with 9%. Article 80 (attempts), at 13%, and Article 131b (obstructing justice), at 10%, were also higher than the service figures of 9% and 6%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 47 | 28% | 31% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 38 | 23% | 25% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 28 | 17% | 14% |
| Art. 134 General article | 25 | 15% | 18% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 25 | 15% | 18% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 23 | 14% | 9% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 22 | 13% | 9% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 17 | 10% | 6% |
Convictions by Charge
All 25 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 1 year. Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article in 35 of 38 (92%), Article 128 cases in 35 of 47 (74%), and Article 120 cases in 17 of 28 (61%). Article 120 had the lowest rate among the top charges.
The median confinement for an Article 120 conviction was 1.5 years, compared with 4 months for Article 112a. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 47 | 35 (74%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 38 | 35 (92%) | 4 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 28 | 17 (61%) | 1.5 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 25 | 25 (100%) | 1 year |
Confinement
Confinement was part of 79% of the 155 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the service median. A quarter of confinement sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Sentences longer than one year were 29 of 155 convictions (19%), compared with 24% service-wide. 21% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 17%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 32 | 21% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 57 | 37% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 37 | 24% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 22 | 14% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 7 | 5% | 5% |
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
Of 151 convicted enlisted members, 83 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (55%). Of those, 24 were dishonorable discharges. The service-wide rate was 63%. Of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.
Court Level and Rank
General courts-martial, which can impose any lawful sentence including a dishonorable discharge, tried 75 of the 173 cases (43%), compared with 44% elsewhere. At general courts-martial, 87% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. At the 98 special courts-martial, which are capped at one year, 74% did, with a median of 4 months.
The accused were 99 junior enlisted members, 70 NCOs, and 3 officers. That group is more senior than in the service overall.
Changes From 2013–2018
The earlier period had 285 cases at San Diego, about 48 a year. The later period had about 35 a year. The contested share went from 23% to 30%. Full acquittals went from 34 of 64 to 18 of 52. Confinement was part of 88% of convictions before and 79% after. The median went from 5 months to 6 months. The punitive discharge rate was 55% in both periods. General courts-martial went from 31% to 43% of cases.
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records cannot show whether it had any part in these changes.
| 2013–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 285 | 173 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 23% | 30% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 34 of 64 | 18 of 52 |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 79% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 55% | 55% |
| General courts-martial | 31% | 43% |
Similar Installations and What the Records Cannot Show
Bremerton, Washington (153 cases) and Norfolk, Virginia (205) had similar numbers of cases. Bremerton's punitive discharge rate was 42% and Norfolk's was 62%. Their full acquittals were 14 of 43 and 29 of 70 contested cases that reached a verdict.
By year, San Diego had 51 cases in 2019, 27 in 2020, 37 in 2021, 27 in 2022, and 31 in 2023. The records do not show the evidence, plea terms, or cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 173 | 30% | 18 of 52 | 6 months | 55% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 153 | 29% | 14 of 43 | 4 months | 42% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 205 | 35% | 29 of 70 | 6 months | 62% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at San Diego, California with a trial date in 2019–2023 (173 cases), compared with all 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 285 Cases Show (another period)
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 126 Cases Show (another period)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Norfolk, Virginia, 2019–2023? 205 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Did Assault Cases at San Diego, California Change After 2019?
- Drug Cases at San Diego, California: 2013–2018 vs. 2019–2023
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at San Diego, California, 2019–2023
- Derek Butler
- Andrea Goode
- Philip Hamon
- Stephen Keane
- Yong Lee
- Andrea Lockhart
- Michelle Pettit
- Derek Poteet
- Ryan Stormer
- Chad Temple
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.