A Year of Courts-Martial at San Diego, California: 2025
San Diego, California held 38 courts-martial in 2025. Only 1 of 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 27% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › 2025
Short answer: San Diego, California held 38 courts-martial in 2025. Only 1 of 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 27% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Punitive discharges were less common: 29% of convicted enlisted members received one, compared with 46% service-wide, and the median confinement was 3 months.
How Often Did Contested Cases End in Acquittal?
Of the 38 accused, 28 pleaded guilty and 10 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 26%, lower than the 37% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025.
All 10 contested cases reached a verdict. 1 ended in a full acquittal (10%). 2 ended in a partial acquittal (20%), meaning the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate was lower than the 27% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025.
Few Punitive Discharges
Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a punitive discharge: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. That is 29%, lower than the 46% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
3 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these records, and 1 was sentenced to dismissal. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Domestic Violence, Drugs, and Conspiracy
All 38 records list the charges. Each article counts once per case. Domestic violence (Article 128b) and drug offenses (Article 112a) were the most common charges, with 7 cases each (18%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, those shares were 11% and 10%. Conspiracy (Article 81) was charged in 16% of cases, compared with 6% service-wide.
Some articles were charged less often here. Orders violations (Article 92) appeared in 13% of cases, compared with 24%. The general article (Article 134) appeared in 16%, compared with 21%. Assault (Article 128) appeared in 11%, compared with 16%. AWOL (Article 86) and willfully disobeying a superior officer (Article 90) each appeared in 8% of cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 7 | 18% | 11% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 18% | 10% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 16% | 21% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 6 | 16% | 6% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 13% | 24% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 11% | 16% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 3 | 8% | 4% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 3 | 8% | 5% |
Median Confinement Was 3 Months
37 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 27 of those sentences included confinement (73%). The median confinement was 3 months. That is shorter than the 4 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1 year or longer.
These are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
Sentences longer than one year occurred at about the same rate as service-wide: 6 of 37 convictions (16%), compared with 16%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 27% | 31% |
| Under 6 months | 17 | 46% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 11% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 11% | 11% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 5% | 5% |
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial heard 28 of the 38 cases, and general courts-martial heard 10. The general court-martial share was 26%, compared with 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A special court-martial can adjudge no more than one year of confinement and no dishonorable discharge.
Sentences differed by court level. At general courts-martial, 8 of 9 convictions included confinement, and the median was 2.7 years. At special courts-martial, 68% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2 months.
Who Was Tried
The accused were 23 junior enlisted members, 12 NCOs, and 3 officers. That rank mix is similar to all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025.
What Changed From 2024 to 2025?
San Diego had 58 cases in 2024 and 38 in 2025. The median confinement was 8 months in 2024 and 3 months in 2025. The punitive discharge rate for convicted enlisted members was 54% in 2024 and 29% in 2025.
The contested share was 35% in 2024 and 26% in 2025. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 7 of 20 in 2024 and 1 of 10 in 2025. The general court-martial share was 38% in 2024 and 26% in 2025. In small groups, a few cases can move a percentage, so these changes show direction, not precision.
Two rule changes apply to these years. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters. The records do not give offense dates, so the 2025 cases include both old-rule and new-rule cases. The records cannot show whether the rule changes caused any of these differences.
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 58 | 38 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 35% | 26% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 20 | 1 of 10 |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 73% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 54% | 29% |
| General courts-martial | 38% | 26% |
Camp Lejeune and Norfolk
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 37 cases. 29% were contested, 2 of 10 contested cases with a verdict ended in a full acquittal, the median confinement was 4 months, and 45% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. Norfolk, Virginia had 31 cases. 23% were contested, 0 of 7 contested cases with a verdict ended in a full acquittal, the median confinement was 1 year, and the punitive discharge rate was 46%.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, California | 38 | 26% | 1 of 10 | 3 months | 29% |
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 37 | 29% | 2 of 10 | 4 months | 45% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 31 | 23% | 0 of 7 | 1 year | 46% |
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 2025 (38 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 2024: 58 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 126 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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at San Diego, California, 2025
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.