What Was Tried at Twentynine Palms, California, 2019–2023? 47 Courts-Martial
From 2019 to 2023, Twentynine Palms, California had 47 courts-martial in these records. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 37% of them, compared with 18% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 6-month service median.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Twentynine Palms, California › 2019–2023
Short answer: From 2019 to 2023, Twentynine Palms, California had 47 courts-martial in these records. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 37% of them, compared with 18% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 6-month service median.
Article 92 Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed in 41 of the 47 records, and an article is counted once per case. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 15 cases. That is 37%, compared with 18% service-wide. Article 112a (drug offenses) was second at 34%, compared with 25%.
Other articles were also charged more often than in the service as a whole. Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 20% of cases here and 8% service-wide. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 17% here and 7% service-wide. Article 134 appeared in 22% here and 18% service-wide. Article 128 (assault) was charged less often: 17% of cases here and 31% across the service.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 15 | 37% | 18% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 14 | 34% | 25% |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 22% | 18% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 20% | 8% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 7 | 17% | 7% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 17% | 31% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 7% | 9% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 3 | 7% | 5% |
Convictions on the Most Common Charges
Nearly every case charging a top article ended in a conviction on that article. That was true of all 15 Article 92 cases, 9 of 9 Article 134 cases, and 8 of 8 Article 107 cases. For Article 112a, the count was 13 of 14 (93%).
For most of these articles, the median confinement after a conviction was under 6 months: 3 months for Article 92, 4 months for Article 112a, and 5 months for Article 107. For Article 134, the median was 1.6 years. 1 case can include several articles, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 15 | 15 (100%) | 3 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 14 | 13 (93%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 1.6 years |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 5 months |
Median Confinement Was 8 Months
A conviction on at least one charge occurred in 40 of the 47 cases. Confinement was part of 31 of those sentences (78%). The median term was 8 months. A quarter were 1.3 years or longer.
All figures are adjudged sentences. They come from the sentence announced at trial and do not reflect any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in a case.
Confinement longer than one year was less common here than in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps: 8 of 40 convictions (20%), compared with 24%. 22% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 17%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 9 | 22% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 35% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 22% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7 | 18% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 2% | 5% |
Pleas Where the Records List Them
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea, and only 20 of the 47 records here list one. Of those 20, 14 were guilty pleas and 6 were contested on at least one charge. The 30% contested share is about the same as the 31% service-wide.
0 of the 6 contested cases with a verdict ended in a full acquittal. With only 6 cases, this count says little about acquittal rates in general.
Punitive Discharges
20 of 37 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (54%). 4 of the 20 were dishonorable. In the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 63%. Members whose sentence had no punitive discharge can still be administratively separated later.
Changes Since 2017–2018
In 2017–2018, Twentynine Palms had about 15 cases a year. In 2019–2023, it had about 9 a year. Here is how 4 measures compare, earlier period first. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members: 83%, then 54%. Convictions with confinement: 100%, then 78%. Median confinement: 7 months, then 8 months. General court-martial share: 40%, then 36%.
The records cannot show why any of these figures changed. In small groups, a few cases can move a percentage, so read these as direction, not precision.
| 2017–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 30 | 47 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 30% |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 83% | 54% |
| General courts-martial | 40% | 36% |
Court Level and Rank
17 of the 47 cases (36%) were general courts-martial, compared with 44% service-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. At that level, 92% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.3 years. The 30 special courts-martial are capped at one year. At that level, 70% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 months.
By rank, the accused were 27 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 10 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 officers or warrant officers. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases, 64% were junior enlisted, so this group was more junior.
Parris Island and Yokosuka
Parris Island, South Carolina had 44 cases, and Yokosuka, Japan had 51. At Parris Island, the median confinement was 11 months and the punitive discharge rate was 82%. At Yokosuka, those figures were 10 months and 57%. Parris Island had the same contested share as Twentynine Palms, 30%, and the same full-acquittal count, 0 of 6.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twentynine Palms, California | 47 | 30% | 0 of 6 | 8 months | 54% |
| Parris Island, South Carolina | 44 | 30% | 0 of 6 | 11 months | 82% |
| Yokosuka, Japan | 51 | 22% | 4 of 11 | 10 months | 57% |
Case Counts and Limits
By year, the counts were 10 in 2019, 10 in 2020, 14 in 2021, 6 in 2022, and 7 in 2023. The 47 cases are 2% of the 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
Only cases tried by court-martial are included. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and cases closed with no action are not. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Twentynine Palms, California with a trial date in 2019–2023 (47 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
- Twentynine Palms, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Twentynine Palms, California Courts-Martial, 2017–2018: What 30 Cases Show (another period)
- Inside 44 Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- Inside 51 Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases
- Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 283 Cases Show
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Twentynine Palms, California, 2019–2023
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.