San Diego, California in 2023: 31 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
San Diego, California tried 31 courts-martial in 2023. Of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal (45%), compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 29% of cases, compared with 11% elsewhere.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2023
Short answer: San Diego, California tried 31 courts-martial in 2023. Of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal (45%), compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 29% of cases, compared with 11% elsewhere. General courts-martial were 65% of cases.
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
Of the 31 cases, 20 were general courts-martial, a 65% share compared with 46% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year and a bad-conduct discharge.
At general courts-martial, 45% of cases were contested and the median confinement was 1.1 years. The 11 special courts-martial were contested 20% of the time, with a median of 2 months.
Assault and Sexual Assault Were the Most Common Charges
All 31 records list the charges. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 12 cases, or 39%, compared with 26% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120 was next, with 9 cases (29%), compared with 11%.
Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), attempts under Article 80, and obstructing justice under Article 131b were each charged in 13% of cases, compared with 5% elsewhere. The general article, Article 134, was charged in 26%. Drug cases under Article 112a were only 6%, compared with 13%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 39% | 26% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 29% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 26% | 22% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 13% | 5% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 13% | 5% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 13% | 5% |
| Art. 117a Wrongful broadcast of intimate visual images | 2 | 6% | 2% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 2 | 6% | 13% |
Contested Cases and Full Acquittals
Pleas are recorded for 30 cases: 19 guilty pleas and 11 contested cases, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 37% was higher than the 32% for the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge. That 45% full-acquittal rate was higher than the 22% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023. There were only 11 cases, so 1 verdict either way changes the rate by several points.
Results by Charge
All 8 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 4 months. Assault cases ended in a conviction on that article in 7 of 12 (58%), with a median of 5 months.
Article 120 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 5 of 9. Those convictions had a median confinement of 4.8 years. One case can include 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. 128 Assault | 12 | 7 (58%) | 5 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 5 (5 of 9) | 4.8 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 4 months |
Some Sentences Were Very Long
Confinement was part of 88% of the 26 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6-month median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of confinement sentences were 3 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Long sentences were more common here than elsewhere. Of 26 convictions, 8 (31%) carried more than one year, compared with 23% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Sentences of 5 years or more were 19% of convictions here, compared with 4%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 12% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 11 | 42% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 15% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 12% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 19% | 4% |
More Dishonorable Than Bad-Conduct Discharges
Of 24 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a punitive discharge: 9 dishonorable discharges and 6 bad-conduct discharges. The 62% rate was about the same as the 63% in the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed.
Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. A member whose sentence had no punitive discharge could still be separated administratively.
Who Was Charged
By rank, 19 of the accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 10 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That mix is similar to the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole, where 65% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Changes From 2022
The number of cases went from 27 to 31. The contested share went from 59% to 37%. Full acquittals went from 2 of 16 to 5 of 11. The general court-martial share went from 41% to 65%. Convictions with confinement went from 68% to 88%. Enlisted punitive discharges went from 44% to 62%. Median confinement went from 5 months to 6 months. A few cases can change these figures in small groups, so the changes show direction only.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 27 | 31 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 59% | 37% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 16 | 5 of 11 |
| Convictions with confinement | 68% | 88% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 44% | 62% |
| General courts-martial | 41% | 65% |
Similar Installations and What the Records Cannot Show
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 32 cases, with a 38% contested share and only 1 of 10 full acquittals. Norfolk, Virginia tried 29 cases, 48% were contested, and 5 of 14 ended in a full acquittal. Median confinement was 6 months at San Diego and Norfolk and 5 months at Camp Lejeune. The enlisted punitive discharge rate was 77% at Camp Lejeune and 52% at Norfolk.
Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in these records. The records also do not show the evidence or plea terms.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 31 | 37% | 5 of 11 | 6 months | 62% |
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 32 | 38% | 1 of 10 | 5 months | 77% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 29 | 48% | 5 of 14 | 6 months | 52% |
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 2023 (31 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 2022 (previous / next)
- San Diego, California in 2024: 58 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Inside 173 Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2019–2023 (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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at San Diego, California, 2023
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.