When Air Force Defense Counsel Had 20 or More Prior Cases, Were Contested Cases Acquitted More Often? 2020–2026
No. In Air Force contested cases that reached a verdict, the full-acquittal rate was 49% when the defense team included a counsel of record with 20 or more prior cases (120 cases), and 49% for the other 570 cases.
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Trends › Counsel Experience › Air Force, 20+ prior cases
Short answer: No. In Air Force contested cases that reached a verdict, the full-acquittal rate was 49% when the defense team included a counsel of record with 20 or more prior cases (120 cases), and 49% for the other 570 cases. The records cannot show why, since case strength, plea offers, and who did the work are not recorded.
The Same Rate With and Without a Defense Counsel at 20 or More Prior Cases
690 contested Air Force cases reached a verdict in this data. In 120 of them, at least one defense counsel of record had 20 or more prior cases. 49% of those 120 ended in a full acquittal. The other 570 also ended in a full acquittal 49% of the time.
A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. A full acquittal is a not-guilty finding on every charge. These numbers compare groups of cases. They do not measure what any lawyer did in a courtroom.
| Group | Contested cases | Full acquittal |
|---|---|---|
| 20 or more prior cases | 120 | 49% |
| Fewer than 20 | 570 | 49% |
How Prior Cases Are Counted
A defense counsel's experience on this page is the number of earlier Air Force courts-martial in this data on which that lawyer was counsel of record, on either side, before the trial date. It is not a rating of skill. A lawyer may have tried cases before the records start, and those are not counted.
The records list every lawyer on a team but not the lead. Each case is counted by its most experienced defense counsel of record. Nothing on this page rates or ranks a lawyer.
Full Acquittals in Each Experience Band
The table below splits the 690 decided contested cases into bands by the most experienced defense counsel's prior cases. The 10 to 19 band was the largest, with 318 cases and a 52% full-acquittal rate. The 5 to 9 band had 194 cases and 47%. The 1 to 4 band had 55 cases and 45%. The 20 or more band had 120 cases and 49%.
Partial acquittals mean not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. They were most common in the 20 or more band, at 20%, and least common in the 5 to 9 band, at 11%. Only 3 cases had no experienced defense counsel, and 1 of 3 ended in a full acquittal.
The records do not show the evidence, plea offers, or who did the work, so the rows describe outcomes. They do not show that experience produced them.
| Prior cases (most experienced defense counsel) | Contested cases | Full acquittal | Partial acquittal |
|---|---|---|---|
| No prior cases | 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| 1 to 4 | 55 | 45% | 16% |
| 5 to 9 | 194 | 47% | 11% |
| 10 to 19 | 318 | 52% | 14% |
| 20 or more | 120 | 49% | 20% |
A Median of 12 Prior Cases
692 of the 697 contested cases list at least one defense counsel of record. In those cases, the median prior-case count of the most experienced defense counsel was 12.
320 cases (46%) had a top defense counsel with 10 to 19 prior cases, and 194 (28%) had one with 5 to 9. 120 cases (17%) had one with 20 or more, and 55 (8%) had one with 1 to 4. In 3 cases, no defense counsel of record on the team had an earlier case in this data.
| Prior cases (most experienced defense counsel) | Cases | Share |
|---|---|---|
| No prior cases | 3 | 0% |
| 1 to 4 | 55 | 8% |
| 5 to 9 | 194 | 28% |
| 10 to 19 | 320 | 46% |
| 20 or more | 120 | 17% |
Defense Counsel Usually Had More Prior Cases Than the Prosecution
691 cases list lawyers on both sides. Comparing the most experienced lawyer of record on each side, the defense counsel had more prior cases in 388 cases (56%) and fewer in 288 (42%). The rest were tied.
Defense teams were usually small. Of the 692 cases with a defense counsel listed, 349 named 1 defense counsel of record, 286 named 2, and 57 named 3 or more.
Which Years Are Included
The 697 cases were tried from January 2020 through October 2026. The yearly counts were 109 in 2020, 137 in 2021, 124 in 2022, 120 in 2023, 88 in 2024, 71 in 2025, and 48 in 2026, a partial year. The counts for 2018 and 2019 are 0.
Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. Air Force counsel names are nearly complete from 2016, and these pages start two years later so most lawyers have earlier cases in the data.
Law Changes During These Years
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder.
Both changes turn on the offense date. The records give only the trial date, so cases tried after each change include some under the old rules.
What the Records Leave Out
Spelling variants of lawyer names are merged as on Learn Your Lawyer. Navy and Marine Corps records list counsel only from mid-2025, mostly by surname, so they are not included.
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records rarely list the charges in a full acquittal and never report plea agreements.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with trial dates in 2018–2026 and a not-guilty or mixed plea (697 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
- Counsel Experience (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- Do Seasoned Air Force Prosecutors Win More Contested Cases? Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2020–2026
- Do Seasoned Army Prosecutors Win More Contested Cases? Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2023–2026
- When Army Defense Counsel Had 20 or More Prior Cases, Were Contested Cases Acquitted More Often? 2023–2026
- 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.